NYT/Reuters: Vermont Signs Ambitious Health - Insurance Law

Vermont Signs Ambitious Health - Insurance Law
By REUTERS
Published: May 25, 2006

MONTPELIER, Vermont (Reuters) - Vermont's governor signed a bill on Thursday that would make the state the second in the nation with near-universal health-care insurance by extending coverage to as much as 96 percent of its residents by 2010.

The law comes a month after neighboring Massachusetts passed the nation's first near-universal health-care reform plan, which aims to provide insurance to about 95 percent of the state's half-million uninsured residents by 2009.

Both plans reflect state efforts to tackle growing concerns over health care with 46 million Americans uninsured, traditional employer-based coverage shrinking and the cost of insurance premiums steadily rising.

Vermont's legislation, signed by Gov. James Douglas at a ceremony at the state's second-largest hospital, aims to reduce the ranks of uninsured -- about 10 percent of the state's 620,000 residents -- while also streamlining care given to those with coverage.

A new subsidized health-care plan called Catamount Health will be offered by insurance companies and paid for in part with a hike in the state's cigarette tax and a fee on employers who do not offer health insurance to their workers....

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-vermont.html

insurance companies....

Whoda thunk it. Gee, I wonder.

Next step - cutting out the insurance companies altogether. Most logical way to get from here to there.

A good first step. Maybe it has to work at the state level first before being accepted nationally.

Socialism makes Baby Jesus cry.

--p!