Burlington, Vermont – September 28, 2010
Peter Shumlin is pushing for a single-payer health care system.
The Democratic candidate for governor of Vermont says the current health care system is broken. Vermont spends $1 million a day on health care.
Shumlin says a single-payer system would better control costs. He also wants to use technology more to reduce administrative waste.
But to pass single-payer– the state would need a special waiver from the federal government. Shumlin says he’s confident Vermont would get the waiver and says implementing single-payer would take about four years. So he’s not counting on immediate savings.
“I’m not going to judge what we can get done when I think we’re being overly pessimistic on the time frame and I would not bank any savings on the budget for this first year,” Shumlin said.
Republican candidate Brian Dubie’s campaign says it does not think the federal government will grant a waiver, and instead supports reducing health care costs through prevention and better management of chronic diseases.
Bianca Slota – WCAX News
I find both of these methods helpful. The less we have to pay out of pocket, the better. And focusing on well-care or prevention is a good thing by a longshot!