It turns out that the reason it failed was because the Governor Peter Shumlin was somehow inadequate. That was Bernie's answer-'That was Peter Shumlin, not me.'
Gee, Senator, thanks for the insight. Clearly you learned a lot from single payer's failure in one of the smallest, most progressive states in the union and will therefore not make them at the federal level.
Basically it's the Green Lantern Theory of Bernie's Presidential Power. He can do it all himself without a coalition because, well, he's Bernie.
For more on Vermont's experience please see here.
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/single-payer-vermont-113711
It's really not hard. We have the ACA. That can be built on. We're not going to get it all done in one thin swoop.
Even Social Security took time. Again, this point is always avoided by those impatient for single payer and nothing but. This is the history. Social Security initially only covered 5 percent of Americans. But it had nowhere to go but up.
The same will happen with the ACA.
The reason we can't do things overnight is
1. Politics.
http://www.vox.com/2016/1/16/10779270/pollack-single-payer-in-america
2. But implementation really is the key. It's easy to say Medicare for All. Achieving it is something else.
This is not Hilary's first rodeo. She went for something close to single payer in 1994-and was for the public option in 2008-and she has learned something from these fights.
"In 1994, Clinton spearheaded a doomed overhaul of the health care system. I've interviewed dozens of people who worked with her on that effort, and who have worked with her since that effort, and the lessons her team took away are clear and deeply held. When it comes to health reform, do not screw with what people already have."
"The Clinton plan wasn't single-payer, but it was a lot closer than what we have now. Her plan would have upended the insurance of virtually everyone in America. And it was eviscerated because of it. The fact that, on net, there would have been many more winners than losers didn't matter. That much disruption is impossible to pass through the American political system. It set the cause of universal health care back a generation."
"Clinton's view is that anyone who actually cares about insuring the uninsured needs to grapple with the power of the status quo — and Sanders hasn't come close. He hasn't even released a real plan, which, quite fairly, drives Clinton nuts. "The devil's in the details when it comes to health care," she told Rachel Maddow."
"Obamacare, meanwhile, rests on shaky ground. Barely 60 percent of states have even accepted the Medicaid expansion. And one of the prime arguments against Obamacare is that, modest as it was, it still canceled some insurance plans. For Sanders to crash into this debate with a vague proposal to cancel many, many, many more is to imperil the fragile gains that have already been made."
http://www.vox.com/2016/1/15/10775420/hillary-clinton-doesnt-trust-you
P.S. Matt Yglesias argues that the real single payer issue ought to be about the pay of doctors.
http://www.vox.com/2016/1/15/10775050/single-payer-debate
Gee, Senator, thanks for the insight. Clearly you learned a lot from single payer's failure in one of the smallest, most progressive states in the union and will therefore not make them at the federal level.
Basically it's the Green Lantern Theory of Bernie's Presidential Power. He can do it all himself without a coalition because, well, he's Bernie.
For more on Vermont's experience please see here.
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/single-payer-vermont-113711
It's really not hard. We have the ACA. That can be built on. We're not going to get it all done in one thin swoop.
Even Social Security took time. Again, this point is always avoided by those impatient for single payer and nothing but. This is the history. Social Security initially only covered 5 percent of Americans. But it had nowhere to go but up.
The same will happen with the ACA.
The reason we can't do things overnight is
1. Politics.
http://www.vox.com/2016/1/16/10779270/pollack-single-payer-in-america
2. But implementation really is the key. It's easy to say Medicare for All. Achieving it is something else.
This is not Hilary's first rodeo. She went for something close to single payer in 1994-and was for the public option in 2008-and she has learned something from these fights.
"In 1994, Clinton spearheaded a doomed overhaul of the health care system. I've interviewed dozens of people who worked with her on that effort, and who have worked with her since that effort, and the lessons her team took away are clear and deeply held. When it comes to health reform, do not screw with what people already have."
"The Clinton plan wasn't single-payer, but it was a lot closer than what we have now. Her plan would have upended the insurance of virtually everyone in America. And it was eviscerated because of it. The fact that, on net, there would have been many more winners than losers didn't matter. That much disruption is impossible to pass through the American political system. It set the cause of universal health care back a generation."
"Clinton's view is that anyone who actually cares about insuring the uninsured needs to grapple with the power of the status quo — and Sanders hasn't come close. He hasn't even released a real plan, which, quite fairly, drives Clinton nuts. "The devil's in the details when it comes to health care," she told Rachel Maddow."
"Obamacare, meanwhile, rests on shaky ground. Barely 60 percent of states have even accepted the Medicaid expansion. And one of the prime arguments against Obamacare is that, modest as it was, it still canceled some insurance plans. For Sanders to crash into this debate with a vague proposal to cancel many, many, many more is to imperil the fragile gains that have already been made."
http://www.vox.com/2016/1/15/10775420/hillary-clinton-doesnt-trust-you
P.S. Matt Yglesias argues that the real single payer issue ought to be about the pay of doctors.
http://www.vox.com/2016/1/15/10775050/single-payer-debate
Mike, your last six posts have all started with the same word. ;D
ReplyDeleteOkay, so where is Hillary's plan? She wants to "build on" Obamacare, reduce costs and expand coverage, but how? Went to her website and her plan is no where to be found. And she is criticizing Bernie's lacking of details??
ReplyDeleteIt can be done any number of ways.
ReplyDelete