Obama supports speeding up health-care reform in Vermont

[cali]

By Nancy Remsen, Free Press Staff Writer • Tuesday, March 1, 2011


MONTPELIER -- Gov. Peter Shumlin flew home Monday from Washington, D.C., with a promise that the Obama administration would support pending legislation critical to health care reform in Vermont.

"It is huge," Shumlin said of President Barack Obama's endorsement of a bill offered by Vermont's congressional to change a waiver date in the federal Affordable Care Act. The law now forbids any waivers from federal reform requirements until 2017, but Obama has agreed to support an earlier date -- 2014. That's the year when many provisions of federal health reform take effect.

"That is so critical to our efforts," Shumlin said in a telephone interview as he left the White House.

Shumlin has proposed moving Vermont to a single-payer health care system, with all Vermonters covered under by government-sponsored health insurance. The governor's bill is under review in the Vermont House Health Care Committee.'

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http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20110301/NEWS03/103010301/Obama-supports-speeding-up-health-care-reform-in-Vermont

[karynnj]

1. It will be interesting to see how Republicans vote on this

On one hand, it gives states more freedom to design their own program, but it requires that their system meet requirements that they reject. As currently written, they may feel that it does not give them what they want and they may fear VT designing a program that will work so well that it will ultimately be a no brainer to go to single payer nationwide.

The interesting question is how should progressives vote if legislators weaken the conditions or allow the state the right to forecast if the requirements will be met? (One of the concerns of moving the date from 2017 is that there would be no benchmark numbers on coverage with the mandate in place. This might get the Republican votes needed - just as a similar change was needed in 1997 to get enough votes for SCHIP. SCHIP greatly increased the availability of insurance to kids, but states, like Texas, adopted less generous programs. Unlike SCHIP, where the compromise was needed to pass it - there is already a passed national program. Though this would lead to weakening programs in some states, it would allow VT and other states to implement sensible programs that show the country what can work.

I hope this passes as written and that VT is able to implement a single payer system in 2014 - rather than having to wait until 2017. Part of this is selfish - as by 2014, we will likely have retired to VT, which we loved as an annual vacation place. However, it is mostly because it seems likely that many states will follow suit if Vermont's results are what everyone thinks they will be.

[Badfish]

2. rec

[polichick]

3. Slavery was outlawed in Vermont 100 years before the federal gov't...

...got around to it (at least that's what I read) - hopefully the country will follow Vermont a bit more quickly this time!