Vermont faces big challenges as it plans to institute the nation’s first and only single-payer health care system by 2017. An April 9, 2014 Vox.com article about Vermont’s experience exploring how best to structure the government-run plan—and how to pay for it—included an interview with [[William Hsiao]] of Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), who provided a blueprint for the state’s system in 2011. Hsiao explained why he became convinced that if single-payer had a shot anywhere in the U.S., it would be in Vermont.
“My opinion about single payer in the United States is that there are so many powerful political groups, like the American Hospital Association and the American Medical Association that dominate Washington, that it can’t really happen,” said Hsiao, K.T. Li professor of economics at HSPH. “In Vermont, there’s much more grassroots activism.”
Read the Vox.com article: Forget Obamacare: Vermont wants to bring single payer to America
Watch a video featuring Hsiao discussing health care reform in Vermont (HealthPolicy.tv)
The Art of Getting Things Done (Harvard Public Health)
Hsiao helps Vermont overhaul its health care system (HSPH news)