Vermont’s health care victory may provide an example for health reform in Illinois
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(From the Campaign for Better Health Care)
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Chicago, IL — On May 26, 2011, Vermont became the first state to institute a single-payer health care system that would provide quality and affordable benefits to all. Bill H.202, signed into law by Governor Shumlin, creates a publicly-funded health care system called Green Mountain Care. Jonathan Kissam, a leader from the Vermont Workers’ Center, gave a talk hosted by the Campaign for Better Health Care on July 7th about this historic legislation.
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Mr. Kissam, who is on the first stop of his two-week speaking tour, helped coordinate Vermont Workers’ Center Healthcare is a Human Right Campaign, which was instrumental in the bill passing. The campaign, a grassroots group of several thousands of Vermonters and thus not very different from Campaign for Better Health Care, uses the rhetoric of human rights principles such as universality and equity as a tool for financing health care. “This is a huge step forward, not just for our state, but for our nation. We hope that this will spread throughout the country, just like Vermont’s other pioneering actions — the abolition of slavery and the establishment of universal public education,†said Kissam.
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While the Affordable Care Act passed last year provides a lot of new benefits, it is only the beginning. “The ACA is a strong blueprint which we in Illinois can capitalize on. We have the opportunity to create a health care system similar to Vermont’s that would assure quality and affordable health care for all Illinoisans,†remarked Jillian Phillips, Chicagoland Organizer for Campaign for Better Health Care
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“We in Illinois could use Vermont as a model for how to approach the struggle towards health care for all,†said Jim Duffett, Executive Director for the Campaign for Better Health Care. He continued, “Treating health care as an elementary and inalienable human right can act as a basis for health care reform.â€Â
