Vermont came another step closer today to making single-payer health care a reality.
The Senate Health and Welfare Committee approved the legislation 5-0 on Wednesday. It now goes to the Senate Finance Committee. The target for action on the bill by the full Senate is next Wednesday..
The Senate has made changes to the bill passed by the house, so if it does pass the full Senate, it will still have to be reconciled with the House version, which passed on March 24th.
The major change made by the Health and Welfare Committee concerns the role of a board that the bill creates to implement reforms in Vermont's health care system. The House version had that board both designing and approving a health care plan. The Senate committee's version has executive branch agencies designing the plan and sending it to the board for approval.
Then it will be onto Governor Shumlin's desk!
On May 1st, the Healthcare is a Human Right Campaign is sponsoring a march and rally at the Statehouse to demonstrate support for a system of universal health care. The rally will take place between 10:00 AM and 12:00 noon.
If you can go, please let the Workers' Center know by calling 802.861.4892 or by emailing james@workerscenter.org.
Or you can sign up here.
(To purchase a copy of the awesome poster, go here)
In other Vermont single-payer news, more than 200 medical, nursing and public health students rallied for single-payer on March 26th in the Vermont capital (hat tip Simeon Kimmel, who pointed me at this cool video):
In contrast, on March 31st, a whopping 20 people turned up to rally against single-payer.
We will win the battle for single payer. As goes Vermont, so, eventually, will go the nation.