Can SEIU Help Vermonters Win Single Payer?

by Steve Early

Steve Early

MONTPELIER, VT.–While the nation waits for an overdue Supreme Court decision that will decide the fate of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA), another health care drama with wide implications for universal care is just starting in Vermont.

Prodded by a strong grassroots movement, the Vermont legislature voted last year to create a system where every citizen will eventually be eligible for publicly funded health care.

“Green Mountain Care” will take five years to fully implement, however. That’s because of the complexity and difficulty of phasing out existing insurance arrangements, overcoming legal hurdles, choosing a funding mechanism, and dealing with ACA’s unhelpful requirement that Vermont first create a private “insurance exchange”(a speed bump the Supreme Court may eliminate if it strikes down all or part of the ACA).