Vermont Democrats Go South On Single Payer

“Vermont…is the only state with universal single-payer health coverage for its residents.”

–James Fallows in The Atlantic, April, 2014

For nearly four years, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin has been basking in the glow of press accolades like the one above.

Unfortunately, what was often misreported nationally as a done deal was far from it, in Montpelier, the state’s capital.

Top Democrats in the legislature were, in reality, not enthusiastic about providing tax-supported universal coverage. Shumlin’s postponement of key financing decisions until after his re-election this fall reflected his own ambivalence about the cost and complexity of the project.

On Wednesday, December 17, the governor called a statehouse press conference to make a “major announcement.” That turned out to be good news for single payer foes locally and nationally—and bad news for campaigners to make “health care a human right.”

http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/12/19/vermont-democrats-go-south-on-single-payer/