Editor’s note: This commentary is by Falko Schilling, who is a consumer protection advocate with the Vermont Public Interest Research Group.
Recently we’ve seen all sorts of conspiracy theories about why Gov. Shumlin decided to shelve his top legislative priority – the universal health care plan.
As one who worked closely with citizens, advocates, policy makers and the administration to advance this plan in concept, I’m not buying some of the most strident criticism. I’m convinced that the governor, and the many people he’s had working tirelessly for him on this, were absolutely committed to trying to reach our shared goal.
But to make the plan a reality, it needed to meet three tests. First, it needed to be viable from a substantive perspective. Could people get behind the plan based on the kind of coverage that they would receive? Second, it needed to be affordable and produce an economic benefit to the state. And third, it needed to be politically viable in the Legislature. And this third test, of course, depended a lot on the answers to the first two.
In the end, the analysis showed that the plan did not pass the second test, and therefore was sure to fail in the Legislature. That doesn’t mean that it can never work, but the answer isn’t as simple as just going with a “cheaper” version of the plan either…Click Here to read the entire article