From October 2011:
Many of the details of the system, including the key issue of financing, still need to be worked out and more legislation will be required to complete the transformation. But Democratic Gov. Peter Shumlin has moved quickly since taking office last January to set the state on a path to create the single-payer system, called Green Mountain Care.
“Under the plan, single payer coverage will be a right and not a privilege, and will not be connected to employment,” he wrote in a recent blog post. “This is groundbreaking. But our success in guaranteeing coverage depends on our ability to control health care costs, so our plan is focused squarely on that goal.”
It will be a unique endeavor; no other state has tried such a dramatic restructuring of its health care system, and national lawmakers backed away from such an option in the health care overhaul debate after vehement opposition from conservatives.
But, Vermont has been a pioneer on other progressive initiatives. It was the first state to establish civil unions for gay couples; and nearly 20 years before the federal health overhaul, Vermont reformed its insurance regulations to bar plans from turning down applicants because of preexisting medical conditions and limit rate variation. It also has one of the nation’s most generous Medicaid programs, as well as a higher percentage of insured residents and health care spending than many other states.
READ MORE:
via Vermont Edges Toward Single Payer Health Care – Kaiser Health News.