By Cynthia Humiston Weed (BFP)
I am in favor of health care for all Vermonters because I believe it is a human right, not a privilege. In addition, I will only support a gubernatorial candidate who believes in it.
Health care is a driving factor in our rising school and town budgets and in state government. Our current retirement system for state employees and teachers — driven by the same rising health care costs — is on the verge of bankruptcy. Lack of affordable health care is a stumbling block for entrepreneurs who might otherwise be inclined to start their own businesses in the state. We need to find ways to contain health care costs now.
It’s not too late or too expensive for single-payer health care in Vermont. In Canada, their national health care system started at first in one small province, Saskatchewan. For over two decades, health care champion Sen. Bernie Sanders has been helping to promote the idea that Vermont can be the Saskatchewan of the United States. Furnishing health care to Vermont residents is cheaper than the collective sums we pay now to insurance companies and, in addition, all Vermonters would be covered, not just some. That’s a win-win for our state and its residents, many of whom are struggling with hardships such as unemployment or underemployment due to the economy.
Two bills, both titled "An Act Relating to Health Care Financing and Universal Access to Health Care in Vermont," were introduced by the Legislature in 2009 to "establish the goal of universal access to essential health care services in Vermont through a publicly financed, integrated, regional health care delivery system; provide mechanisms for cost containment in the system; and provide a framework, schedule, and process to achieve that goal." These bills will be revisited in 2010 when the Legislature convenes. By passing these bills we would be addressing two problems at once: health care and state budget deficits; it’s something the Legislature can do in one session.
Please, don’t just sit back and let the big corporations such as insurance companies dictate your future. Educate yourself and ask questions. Find out what your representatives stand for (and who they get their money from) and let them know that you will support them only if they really represent you and will stand up and vote for bills that support you: the workers, retirees and families of Vermont.
Cynthia Humiston Weed of Enosburg Falls is chairwoman of the Franklin County Progressive Party.