Vermont

What Happened To Universal Healthcare In Vermont

January 11, 2015 Steffie Woolhandler, M.D., M.P.H., and David U. Himmelstein, M.D., www.pnhp.org Educate! Healthcare, Single payer health care, Vermont

Gov. Peter Shumlin’s Dec. 17, 2014, announcement that he would not press forward with Vermont’s Green Mountain Care (GMC) reform arose from political calculus rather than fiscal necessity. GMC had veered away from a true single payer design over the past three years, forfeiting some potential cost savings. Yet even the diluted plan on the table before Shumlin’s announcement would probably have lowered total health spending in Vermont, while covering all of the state’s uninsured. It’s a misnomer to label Vermont’s Green Mountain Care plan “single payer.” It was hemmed in by federal restrictions that precluded including 100 percent of Vermonters in one plan, and its designers further compromised on features needed to maximize administrative savings and bargaining clout with drug firms, and improve health planning. But even the watered-down plan that emerged could have covered the uninsured, improved coverage for many who currently face high out-of-pocket costs, and actually reduced total health spending in the state – albeit far less than under a true single payer plan. A true single payer plan would have made covering long-term care affordable, and allowed the elimination of all copayments and deductibles. Vermont’s experience holds important lessons for single payer advocates.

Newsletter: Breaking The Spell Of The Corporate State

January 10, 2015 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.PopularResistance.org Newsletter Climate Change, Climate Justice, Democracy, Extreme Energy, Healthcare, Internet, KXL pipeline, Living Wage, Minimum Wage, Net Neutrality, Racism, TPP, Trade, Vermont, Zapatistas

The democracy crisis grows deeper. Analysis of the mid-term elections shows voting levels lower than the era of Andrew Jackson, when the requirement of owning property to vote was removed. People are rejecting both political parties as 42% of Americans are registered independents compared to 30% Democrats and 25% Republicans. Nozomi Hayase writes people are breaking the spell of the corporate state, recognizing the elites who govern are not smarter than the rest of us, that they fit the characteristics of psychopaths for their endless war, debt-ponzi schemes and that the ongoing financial crisis exposes their agenda of hoarding wealth for themselves. At the same time Hayase writes: “Civil disobedience against the corporate state demands that we disobey their commands and instead begin listening to our hearts that know what is right and wrong.”

Vermont Healthcare Advocates Disrupt Legislature

January 8, 2015 Staff, www.PopularResistance.org Resist! Healthcare, Human Rights, Vermont

Protesters occupied the chambers of the Vermont Statehouse Thursday afternoon, saying they refuse to leave until legislators meet their demands to respect the first-ever U.S. law for universal, publicly-funded health care, won by social movements nearly four years ago yet stymied by the governor last month. The Vermont Workers Center is pushing the legislature to proceed to funding the universal health care plan even without Governor Shumlin. The Burlington Free Press reported: The protesters, organized by the Vermont Workers’ Center through the Health Care is a Human Right Campaign, demanded that House Speaker Shap Smith, D-Morristown, schedule a public hearing on single-payer financing by Jan. 29.

Shummy’s Surrender: Vermont Governor Goes South On Single Payer

December 19, 2014 Steve Early, www.PopularResistance.org Educate! health insurance industry, Healthcare, Single payer health care, Vermont

On Wednesday, December 17, the governor called a statehouse press conference to make a “major announcement.” That turned out to be good news for single payer foes locally and nationally—and bad news for campaigners to make “health care a human right.” Shumlin declared that “now is not the right time” to proceed with any fundamental overhaul of health care financing and delivery in Vermont. He claimed that the latest cost estimates for what’s known locally as Green Mountain Care (GMC) were higher than the $2 billion originally projected. GMC would create an “enormous” additional tax burden and high “risk of economic shock,” in a period when a “slower recovery from the great recession has tightened our state budget.” The governor has framed his push for Green Mountain Care, quite conservatively, as a boon for business, declaring at a re-election rally in September that “we are moving forward on the nation’s first single payer health care system that contains costs, takes the burden off of employers, and simplifies the system for all Vermonters.” Later that month, he sounded a bit more tentative, telling a radio audience: “If we come up with a financing plan that doesn’t grow jobs, economic opportunity, and make Vermont more prosperous, trust me, we’re not gonna do it.” In the same interview, he declared himself to be “one of the most pro-business, anti-tax governors that you’ve seen in a long time.”

Protesters Tell Vermont Governor: Career Is Toast Over Healthcare

December 18, 2014 Morgan True, www.vtdigger.org Resist! Healthcare, Single payer health care, Vermont

Protesters from across the state descended on Montpelier Thursday to voice their anger with Gov. Peter Shumlin’s decision to drop his pursuit of single payer health care. More than 60 people stood in front of the Statehouse chanting slogans and singing protest songs. “All people, all care, make the rich pay their share,” they shouted, “The system, let’s stop it, our health is not for profit.” Many shared personal stories of struggles to afford health insurance or medical services, highlighting barriers to care such as high deductibles, copayments and other forms of cost sharing. Several burned medical bills they said they would never be able to pay off. Protesters focused their ire on Shumlin. The governor acknowledged the disappointment of his supporters in remarks Wednesday, but said the economics of single payer wouldn’t allow the program to move forward anytime soon. He called it “the biggest disappointment of my public service so far.” But protesters were unappeased Thursday, asserting that Shumlin supported single payer while it was politically advantageous, but turned his back on the interests of the working class when he encountered resistance from business leaders. They marched up to his ceremonial office in the Statehouse to deliver a platter of toast with the message, “Dear Shumlin, your career is toast.”

Charges Dropped For 64 Arrested At Governor’s Office Sit-In

December 6, 2014 Rising Tide Vermont, www.popularresistance.org Resist! Energy, Environment, Law, Vermont

Vermont State Police today announced that all charges have been dropped against the 64 Vermonters who occupied Governor Peter Shumlin's office on October 27, to demand an end to the fracked gas pipeline and a ban on fossil fuel infrastructure. The Governor was the focus of the sit-in due to his continued support of the pipeline, which would transport dirty, climate-disrupting fracked gas from Alberta Canada through Addison County, underneath Lake Champlain to the International Paper mill in Ticonderoga, Ny., and eventually to Rutland. The pipeline, opposed by thousands of people across the state, would continue Vermont's reliance on greenhouse gas-emitting fossil fuels that cause climate change.

Landowners Expose Vermont Gas’ False Claims

December 2, 2014 Melanie Peyser, www.popularresistance.org Educate! Climate Change, Energy, Environment, Fracking, Vermont

The ten landowners who have been working with Governor Shumlin to address Vermont Gas System's predatory practices in securing easements and rights-of-way, were astonished to learn through a VGS press release today that VGS claimed to have opened direct dialogue with them. The Governor’s office sent a letter to VGS a few days ago requesting that the company institute a pause or moratorium on eminent domain filings and interaction between VGS and landowners to provide the space needed to rebuild trust between landowners and the state and thereafter with VGS. In response, the company chose to issue a press release claiming the opening of direct dialogue. “Once again VGS is using a negotiating platform as some twisted press advantage instead of dealing forthrightly with the issue,” said Maren Vasatka of Monkton.

Jury Finds Vermont Fracking Protester Not Guilty

November 20, 2014 Staff, www.risingtidevermont.org Resist! Fracking, Pipelines, Vermont

The trial of Henry Harris, charged with trespassing at Vermont Gas Systems’ (VGS) headquarters in South Burlington on May 27th, ended today with a not guilty verdict. Harris and other members of Rising Tide Vermont blockaded the main entrance of VGS and dropped a massive banner from the roof, demanding the company immediately cancel its plans to build the fracked gas pipeline. Harris, a volunteer organizer with Rising Tide Vermont, said, “Today, the court ruled in my favor because the jury recognized Vermont Gas and the state of Vermont had no basis in their charges against me. The state's prosecutor, with pressure from VGS and the Shumlin administration, was attempting to stifle future protests against the fracked gas pipeline and Shumlin's hypocritical climate and energy policies." Since the May 27th protest, hundreds of Vermonters have taken part in rallies, blockades, and an occupation of the Governor’s office to demand an end to the pipeline project. The 64 activists who were arrested at the occupation on October 27th are also facing charges of trespass.

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