It was a photo-op for the ages in Montpelier this morning, when all three members of Vermont’s congressional delegation joined Gov. Peter Shumlin in his ceremonial office in the Statehouse.
At issue: the federal waivers Vermont will need to move ahead with the single-payer health-care plan Shumlin promised voters during the gubernatorial campaign. The “Affordable Healthcare Act,” a.k.a. the federal health-care bill, is filled with mandates that could impede Vermont’s ability to construct a single-payer plan. Sens. Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders and Rep. Peter Welch vowed to fight for the waivers Vermont needs to move ahead with the plan.
They’ll have to convince congressional Republicans – who would like to repeal the health-care bill altogether – to go along with their proposal. Eric Davis, professor emeritus of political science at Middlebury College, noted in a phone call this afternoon that the delegation’s argument for waivers – which amounted to a Federalist cry for state rights – seems to have been crafted for a Republican audience.
“The argument they’re making about federal waivers seems to be one they’re adapting to the new dynamic in Washington,” Davis says. “What they’re saying is, okay, if Republicans in the House think states should have more decisions about the way health care is delivered, then the same argument about decentralization and letting states make more of their own decisions should also apply to Vermont.”
Davis noted that Sanders, on issues surrounding the Federal Reserve, has forged some unlikely alliances with rock-rib Republicans. They might find similarly overlapping views on states’ rights to craft their own health-care designs.
“Allowing states more leeway in figuring out the best way to deliver health care could be another one of these issues that brings Democrats and Republicans together,” Davis says.
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