Tuesday’s election victories by President Barack Obama and Gov. Peter Shumlin ensures that the experiment to extend access to health care will move forward.
The nation and the state face many challenges including shoring up the economy and finding a way to pay for the services people need and expect of government.
How Congress and the president finally deal with the so-called “fiscal cliff” in the coming weeks will have wide-reaching impact on the nation.
Still, health care reform was a major issue in both the national and statewide campaigns. The voters made emphatic statements in both races by returning to office two men who are ardent advocates for reform.
A second term for the president means that Obama’s signature legislative achievement of his first term, the Affordable Care Act, is no longer under threat of being dismantled under an administration led by Mitt Romney.
The president’s health care reform that seeks to insure all Americans is the first significant extension of the social safety net in a generation.
The Shumlin reelection means that Vermont, too, can continue to pursue its own path to health care reform, universal access that hinges on creating a single-payer system.
Despite their victories, the president and governor would be a mistake to take the election results as a direct mandate for Obamacare or a single-payer system. The country, and to a lesser extent the state, remains divided on the direction of health care reform.
Yet there’s no denying that by reelecting Obama and Shumlin, the majority of voters gave a nod to the candidate pledged to moving forward on health care on the paths they have chosen.
For Vermont, the path will be no easy going.
As The New York Times reports, “States will need to hustle to put in place gore vidal the various pieces meant to help their residents meet the contentious requirement of having health insurance by Jan. 1, 2014.”
Vermont is in a better place than most, thanks to Shumlin’s push to move forward with a plan that goes far beyond the bare requirements of the federal law.
The coming months will be critical as the state rolls out the details of what Vermont-style health care reform will look like — including what single payer will look like and cost, and how we will pay for it.
The election results ensured reform will continue on its current course. Now it’s up to Shumlin and company to make the new health care system work for Vermonters.