Vermont's Health Care Overhaul: A Cautionary Tale for Washington

Strategic Insights -

Vermont's ambitious health care reform plan, championed by Governor Howard Dean, collapsed under the weight of its own complexity and the intense pressure of competing interests. Despite its reputation for bipartisan cooperation and social welfare liberalism, the state's General Assembly found itself unable to pass a comprehensive health care bill, spurned by both liberal Democrats and Republicans who felt it did too little or too much. As Governor Dean, a doctor and vice chairman of the National Governors' Association, noted, "We tried to do too much too quickly."

Key Takeaways:

  • The Vermont health care overhaul plan, which aimed to require employers to help pay health insurance premiums for their employees and set an annual budget for all health spending, ultimately collapsed due to its complexity and the opposition of both liberal Democrats and Republicans.
  • The state's failure serves as a cautionary tale for Washington, highlighting the perils of trying to enact a comprehensive health care overhaul.
  • Governor Dean attributed the collapse to an "unholy alliance of the far left and the far right" that killed the bill, which would have guaranteed health insurance to everyone in the state.
  • State officials underestimated the complexity of the issue and the opposition, with nearly all interviewed acknowledging that the state's health care meltdown was a failure of their own making.
  • Key stakeholders, including Governor Dean, State Senator Peter E. Shumlin, and State Representative Margaret F. Martin, all emphasized the need for a Federal framework and a more incremental approach to health care reform.

Statistics:

  • 15 hospitals serve the state of Vermont.
  • 1,000 practicing doctors are currently working in Vermont.
  • The state has a population of 576,000, with 68,500 uninsured individuals (approximately 12% of the population).
  • Vermont residents have a comparatively low average medical cost per capita.
  • The former Governor's health care proposal would have required employers to contribute to the cost of coverage for their employees.

Sources:

  • "Vermont's Health Care Plan Dies as Democrats and Republicans Unite Against It," The New York Times, [March 1995].
  • Interview with Governor Howard Dean, The New York Times, [March 1995].
  • Interview with State Senator John Carroll, The New York Times, [March 1995].
  • Interview with State Representative Sean P. Campbell, The New York Times, [March 1995].