Video: VT to Become 1st State to Enact Single-Payer
From Democracy Now! –
Today Vermont is set to make history by becoming the first state in the nation to offer universal, single payer healthcare when Gov.Peter Shumlin signs its healthcare reform bill into law. The Vermont plan, called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, will attempt to stem rising medical care prices and provide universal coverage. We speak with Dr. Deb Richter, President of Vermont Health Care For All. She moved from Buffalo, New York, to Vermont in 1999 to advocate for a universal, single-payer healthcare system in the state. Gov. Shumlin calls her the “backbone” of the grassroots effort that helped persuade the Democratic-led state Legislature to pass the bill this spring.
I live in Ohio and I am not too far away from a single payer system, meaning that I’m almost old enough for Medicare. Still I would like to move to Vermont so I would be surrounded by people that are humane enough to know that health care should be for everyone, not just a privileged few. Way to go Vermont!!