National Nurses United

signed the bill into law. Most single-payer proponents celebrated Vermont's victory in being the first of the U.S. states to pass legisla- tion that charted a clear roadmap to a truly universal system with access to care granted to all Vermonters. In the years since, Vermont has encountered struggles in its efforts to move quickly down the road to single-payer coverage for all, but is making progress working within the confines of the PPACA requirements to achieve all that was envisioned under the Green Mountain Care law. Deb Richter, chair and founder of Vermont Health Care for All and a family physician, has been a driving force behind the single- payer effort in Vermont, and she says she is still confident that Vermont's system will achieve the universality envisioned in the 2011 bill. "The Legislature will be voting on the financing package in the spring of 2015, and that's still two years before the state innovation waivers allow plans to move forward," she said. Vermont legislators decided not to push on the financing during the 2014 election cycle, Richter says, to give proponents ample time to explain to the public how the plan's largest tax increase in state history will be offset by no longer having to pay insurance premiums for private insurance. The National Education Association recently funded a poll to check the pulse of Vermonters on Green Mountain Care and further health reform. Richter said that even though the polling language was not favorable toward single-payer, a clear majority of Vermonters still support moving forward with reforms. Once they understood the concepts behind single-payer, those polled showed a 55 percent majority in support of the reforms, with 43 percent opposed. "We're still climbing a hill, but we're still able to climb," acknowledged Richter. "It's an uphill path but I am confident because the administration is still moving full steam ahead to make sure this happens." Once again, it will be critical for a groundswell of Vermonters to publicly rally in favor of single-payer reform. The private insurance industry is, of course, pouring money and resources into defeating Green Mountain Care. "To cross the finish line and launch the new system by January 2017 will require a strong people's movement to hold policymakers accountable and push back against a well-funded industry lobby intent on aborting the M A R C H 2 0 1 4 W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G N A T I O N A L N U R S E 13 y- state strategy to win Medicare for All BY DONNA SMITH "T o "The ACA leaves the health insurance companies in control of who you can see, where you can go. The only way everyone will have healthcare, not just health insurance, is an expanded Medicare for all."

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