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Universal health care advocates rally in Vermont
By John Curran, Associated Press Writer
Boston Globe
May 1, 2010
MONTPELIER, Vt. -- Hopeful that Montpelier can do what Washington didn't, hundreds of people who want single-payer health care gathered in Vermont's capital Saturday, staging a noisy, sign-waving march and rally.
The medium was the message -- bussing or driving in from Rutland, Brattleboro, Burlington and elsewhere, they sang songs on the steps of City Hall and then walked about a half-mile through downtown to the Statehouse waving signs that read "Help the Needy, Not the Greedy," "Vermont Can Lead the Way" and "Medicare for All."
There, they swarmed over the capitol steps and camped out to listen as organizers of the "Healthcare is a Human Right" campaign and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders said Vermont could lead the way in establishing a universal health care system under which government agency would administer and make all payments for health care.
"We have Medicare, and it should be Medicare for all," said Ellen Tenney, 54, of Saxtons River, who was among the marchers. "And that's basically what single-payer would be. Everybody pays into the system but it's a reasonable premium and it goes totally to health care."
Her motivation was more personal than most. Her brother died in December of a heart attack because he couldn't afford his medications, she said.
Tenney, who owns a Brattleboro bookstore, said she sees people regularly in similar straits.
"Our store is next door to a pharmacy, and I have people coming in to sell us books so they can afford their prescriptions next door at the pharmacy," she said. "There are times I have to say no because it's total junk they bring in. But a number of times, people have walked out of there and I think `Jesus, what a country, this is America?'"
The state Legislature has passed legislation that could result in a "public option" health insurance rejected by Washington or the Canadian-style single-payer system.
The bills passed by the House and Senate call for designing a single-payer system. Both would require federal approval.
The Senate's bill focuses on single-payer as the goal, but also calls for two alternative designs. Differences will have to be worked out in negotiations between the chambers. It isn't clear whether Gov. Jim Douglas, a Republican, will sign the bill, veto it or let it become law without his signature. His spokesman has said Douglas likes parts of the bill but has "strong concerns" about others.
Sanders, a longtime advocate of universal care, called it a "moral disgrace" that the U.S. is the only industrialized country in the world that doesn't guarantee health care for all of its people.
"I want you to pass a single-payer health care program in Vermont" he said.
"And when you do that, I will go to the president of the United States and say `Mr. President, this is what Vermont has done, let `em go forward.' And I'm going to go to my conservative friends in the Congress and say `You believe in states' rights, well here's a state that has passed single-payer, let `em go forward,'" he said, eliciting cheers.
The Vermont Workers Centers, which sponsored the event, estimated that about 1,500 people participated, though Montpelier police would give no estimate of the crowd size. The number in the march appeared to be less than 1,000.