(The following was originally published on VPR.)
The legislative fight for single-payer in Vermont traces its roots back to the early 1990s, when a newly minted representative from Burlington introduced a bill to abolish the private insurance market and replace it with a universal, publicly financed health care system.
The representative’s named was Dean Corren, a Progressive Party stalwart who would go on to serve four terms in the Vermont Legislature. And it’s no accident that Corren’s return to politics coincides with what will be the most pivotal legislative biennium yet for the single-payer effort.
“The main reason I’m motivated to run now is because we are at this cusp of being on the verge of developing a real health care system for Vermont. And this has been a long time in coming,” Corren says.