Of the plans that states have hatched for the Affordable Care Act, none has been bolder than that of Vermont, which wants to implement a single-payer health-care system, along the lines of what you might find in Britain or Canada. One government-operated system will cover all 620,000 of Vermont’s citizens. The hope is that such a system will allow Vermont to get costs down closer to Canada’s, as well as improve health by coordinating care and ensuring universal coverage.
Just two small issues need to be resolved before the state gets to all systems go: First, it needs the federal government to grant waivers allowing Vermont to divert Medicaid and other health-care funding into the single-payer system. And second, Vermont needs to find some way to pay for it.
I’d blame the delusion of something for nothing on unicorn farts wafting north from the District of Columbia, but this nightmare should be taken seriously. As is mentioned in the article, people move to Vermont to live under less of a tax burden. If they aren’t down to fewer than 500,000 residents in five years, I’ll be surprised.