Vermont for Single Payer

This week Progressive legislators introduced a new Single Payer bill (H.491). This bill proposes to create a single-payer health care system in Vermont to promote health, to prevent chronic health conditions, and to contain costs. They also released the statement below identifying the criteria that must be included in any proposal they support.

Progressives Outline Principles for Healthcare Reform

By: Representative David Zuckerman (P-Burlington), Representative Susan Davis (P-Washington) and Anthony Pollina.

Vermont must and can do better than the Congress in providing major reforms to the way we pay for health care.  Since Jim Douglas took office Vermonters’ spending on health care has increased by two billion dollars.  Insurance companies have taken us on an irresponsible spending spree that has pushed many families and businesses into bankruptcy, and is seriously stressing our state economy. And still many go without the health care they need. As our legislature takes up the health care debate, yet again, we want Vermonters to know that we stand for changes that are fiscally sound, save money, stand up to insurance companies and create a system that provides every Vermonter regardless of income with the health care they need.  We will use this set of principles to evaluate various proposals and will do what we can to stand up for Vermonters who have been asked to pay too much for too long.

Progressives have consistently supported changes that cover everyone, eliminate waste, lower costs in the short term and control costs in the long term.  These principles may sound familiar, still we believe most Vermonters share our concerns and support these criteria for changes to how we pay for health care.

Any healthcare reforms must:

Include everyone. Access to care can no longer be determined by wealth, income, or employment.  By placing all Vermonters in a single risk pool, we will drive down costs through shared risk.

Be fiscally responsible. Reforms must lower costs for families and businesses and strengthen our economy. We should end insurance premiums as we know them and replace them with a system based on ability to pay that is fair and lowers costs for most Vermonters.

Eliminate waste and excessive profit taking at the expense of our health. Multiple payers, insurance company shenanigans and profits eat up one third of every dollar we spend on health care.

Include no mandates or subsidies. Tax dollars must not be used to subsidize private health insurance companies, and Vermonters should not be forced into the private insurance “product” market.

Support health care providers. Providers must be compensated fairly, and be allowed to spend their time with patients, not on the phone with insurance companies or pharmaceutical reps.

We need a streamlined, rational way to pay for health care to replace the irrational, excessively expensive way we do it now. Citizens and policymakers who want to make government more efficient cannot deny the need to replace our failed insurance company model with a new more efficient “system.” A single-payer system, changing how we pay for health care – but not interfering with how providers provide care – is the proven way to achieve cost savings, by ending waste and duplication, and providing more control over costs long term. Adding new “options” only adds more bureaucracy.

We appreciate and encourage the citizen organizing that is making health reform an imperative this year. We will work with the Vermont Workers Center Health Care is a Human Right Campaign, Vermont Health Care for All, Vermont Citizens Campaign for Health and others and with representatives of all political parties who share our principles to guarantee every Vermonter the health care they need at a price they – and we all – can afford.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 11th, 2010 at 10:51 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.