Yet despite the overwhelming evidence against single-payer, or socialized medicine, or universal health care, there is one state, so far, which has pushed the single-payer system: Vermont.
But wait, even the Democrats in the Green Mountain state are sounding the alarm against single payer.
Their words, reported by Vermont Watchdog.com:
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| VT Rep.Jim Condon (D-Colchester) |
Whether liberals want to admit it or not, their plans fall apart not because of moral or social, or even cultural concerns, but the financial issues. As British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher put it: "The problem with socialism is that you end up running out of other people's money!"
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| Bobby Starr (D-Burlington) |
Prior to this report, Senator Bobby Starr shared his concerns about the single-payer system "Green Mountain Care":
“There’s no way we can do it without new taxes … There’s no way possible of generating that kind of money from the existing money as far as I’m concerned."
Then he added:
“My fear is, in many regards, is if we have something that’s so unique that it puts us at a disadvantage from the states around us from a business standpoint. I want to be sure that we don’t suffer.”
The tax dollars have to come from somewhere. If not from the individual citizens, then the wealth creators, including the private businesses, who end up carrying the bulk of the costs. Even Democrats realize that there is a limit to what they can get away with when it comes to raising taxes for government programs.
Starr ultimately voted against the plan, along with Condon.
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| Cynthia Browning (D-Arlington) |
Once again, even in the bluest of states like Vermont, it's all about the green which makes lawmakers and taxpayers red.
Browning commented:
“I think if the governor is going to continue to say, ‘I’m going to do single-payer,’ he has to show us how. And he has to show us how he’s going to build a sustainable, political base to support it. And the longer he doesn’t do that, the more it leads you to think he can’t do it or that he’s actually going to drop the thing later but he’ll wait until after the election."
Since Democrats are not looking good across the country, maybe the GOP can crack through the blue haze and take back seats in the Green Mountain state, too.
Obamacare was supposed to be a transformative reform which expanded access, lowered costs, and provided quality health care. Vermont wanted to go further and enact single-payer, only to find that it's all about the money.
As one headline put it, single-player has "flat-lined" in Vermont. Will it flat-line Democratic dominance in Vermont, and through New England, too?
Art, ever been to Burlington? Montpelier? Essex Junction? How about Swanton? St. Jonhsbury? Colchester? No, huh? What you know about Vermont could fit on the tip of your pinhead. Tip: go to Vermont, learn about the state--boots on the ground--actually experience the things you only read about on other crazy blogs. You are lost, bro.
ReplyDeleteVermont decided to take it a step further by setting up their very own single payer system. Hey Art---you don't "flatline" something that's not fully operational for 3 more years, you dope.
ReplyDeleteThe slogan of the program: Everybody in, nobody out.
The program will be fully operational by 2017, and will be funded through Medicare, Medicaid, federal money for the ACA given to Vermont, and a slight increase in taxes. In exchange, there will be no more premiums, deductibles, copay’s, hospital bills or anything else aimed at making insurance companies a profit. Further, all hospitals and healthcare providers will now be nonprofit.
This system will provide an instant boost the state economy. On the one side, you have workers that no longer have to worry about paying medical costs or a monthly premium and are able to use that money for other things. On the other side, you have the burden of paying insurance taken off of the employers side, who will be able to use the saved money to provide a better wage and/or reinvest in their company through updated infrastructure and added jobs. It is a win-win solution.
To make sure that it is done right the first time, Vermont brought in a specialist who knows a thing or two about setting up a single-payer system.
Dr. William Hsaio, the Harvard health care economist who helped craft health systems in seven countries, was Vermont’s adviser. He estimates that Vermont will save 25 percent per capita over the current system in administrative costs and other savings.
Many like to say that the United States has the best healthcare system in the world. The problem is we don’t. Not even close. In fact, the only way you can get the best healthcare in the world, is if you are willing and able to pay for it. The United States can and must do better for its people.
Costs have to be held down — there is no reason why the U.S. has to pay twice the amount per capita as the next most costly system in the world (Norway’s), and still not cover millions of its citizens. A Harvard Medical School study states that 45,000 Americans die each year from treatable diseases because they cannot afford to get treatment.
45,000 Americans die every single year because they cannot afford treatment, are you ready for that? That is 15 times the amount of people that died during the September 11, 2001, attacks, or perhaps for you Righty’s out there you would rather see it put this way, 11,250 times the amount of people that died in the Benghazi attack. That equals 5 Americans that die every hour, of every day, of every year because of a preventable illness that was not taken care of due to lack of access and means.
Even once the Affordable Care Act wrinkles are ironed out, which they will be, and every America is covered, which will happen, that will not change the fact that all of this is being driven by a for-profit system by companies that only care about their bottom line. Despite rules in the ACA which prevent insurance companies from absolutely gouging their customers, insurance companies are not exactly know for their ethical behavior.
A single-payer system would all but eliminate anybody dying unnecessarily due to lack of access to healthcare. Our Declaration of Independence states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” How can somebody have life and happiness, without their health? Despite the glaring hypocrisy of rich, white males who owned slaves stating all men are created equal, we have come a long way from 1776. Yet when it comes to the very basic need, we are left to the whim of a business. Single-payer is inevitable, and the ACA is a giant step in that direction. We need must hold our officials to a higher standard which will get us there faster. 40,000 people a year is absolutely unacceptable. Vermont saw the writings on the wall. Will the rest of us?