We may finally learn which path works best in this nation. In this state we have mandatory coverage with subsidies for those who can not afford the going rate(although by offering lesser care for the lower cost). In Vermont they are moving towards Single Payer. This is being done with consultation from Dr. William Hsaio. He is a Harvard economist who has successfully implemented health insurance schemes in many countries around the globe. The citizens of Vermont have elected a governor and legislature who have committed to making this a reality.
Who knows what they will come up with in NY, AL, MS, or CA, NJ, PA, AK etc? So let the social labs get busy and maybe we can swap ideas after a while.
Indeed this is how the Canadian system evolved. It first started in Saskatchewan under the governorship of Tommy Douglas(voted recently Canada’s most honored citizen) and it was so successful it spread to every Province. The National Law provides the outline of what must be included and its expense. Providers remain private entities who can even bargain for their income. The system has an 85% satisfactory rating compared to one in the 70s in the US. Even more impressive is a 100% support from the Canadian Medical System that includes 85% of physicians in that country.
Thank you again Sen Brown
On one hand, he voted to repeal the entire thing – and has said that is his preference.
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p>On the other hand, he is co-sponsoring Wyden’s proposal to allow states to create their own plans provided they meet the goals. What that bill does is allow states to opt out of the federal defined systems as long as they meet the same goals in 2014 instead of 2017. As only a single payer system can be easily shown to do this before there is a period where the alternative with a mandate is in place, the main thing this could do is start a single payer system in VT (and maybe elsewhere) three years earlier than in the original bill.
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p>(Wyden is the chief sponsor of this bill and there is a system in OR, that is not single payer, that also is said to meet the requirements – so this really would set the states up as laboratories.)
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p>Although doing this in 2014 means things could change faster, I suspect that this bill is DOA as the right wing (including the Heritage Foundation) is calling it a Trojan Horse for single payer – and they think that a bad thing!
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p>If the right does target it, it will be interesting to see how much (and how) Brown fights for this bill that he added his name onto.
what happened to States’ Rights? Will our states rights friends sit comfortably on the horn of this dilemma?