Vermont’s congressional delegation has introduced legislation that it says will let Vermont and other states provide better health care cheaper starting in 2014.
Senators Bernie Sanders and Patrick Leahy and Congressman Peter Welch have pledged to help the state get the federal waivers needed to devise its own health care reform three years sooner than permitted under new federal health care law.
The delegation says under the legislation states are eligible if their plans are at least as comprehensive and affordable as the federal model and cover at least as many people.
The delegation says the legislation would let Vermont implement a single-payer system that could be a model for the rest of the country.