(Here is the latest from Candidate for Governor, Peter Shumlin – promoted by GMD)

Yesterday, I announced A Vision for Vermont, a strategic plan to get Vermonters back to work.  A Vision for Vermont is an aggressive, visionary jobs plan, designed to help both the unemployed and those Vermonters struggling to keep up with mounting bills on stagnant incomes.

Vermont has a bright future but we need bold, visionary leadership to ensure that we get our economy moving again and seize the opportunities available to us.  Please check out the plan at: www.shumlinforgovernor.com/vision-for-vermont/

The plan outlines a number of bold initiatives, such as implementing a single payer system to get health care off the backs of our employers, providing universal early education to give our kids a strong start, wiring broadband to every last mile by 2013 and responsibly developing in-state renewable energy generation through the sale of Vermont renewable energy bonds.

A Vision for Vermont also includes initiatives to help support the backbone of our economy – our small businesses and our family farms.  As Governor, I will provide capital to our small businesses to help them grow and create jobs and better opportunities for Vermonters.  And I will work tirelessly to ensure that our farmers are receiving the value added price for their hard work and their quality products.

I have established a record of getting tough things done.  As Governor, I will build upon that record and put Vermonters back to work, grow our economy and make our state a place where our children can proudly raise their families.    

The Self Proclaimed “Chief Inspired Protagonist” and Co-Founder of Seventh Generation, Jeffrey Holldender, Endorses Peter Shumlin for Governor.  Read Jeffrey’s endorsement below!  

As the co-founder of Seventh Generation, I take our environmental and energy future seriously.  And as a Vermonter, preserving our natural landscape is one of my top concerns.

That is why I am supporting Peter Shumlin for Governor.  Peter isn’t afraid to do what’s right and he has the leadership skills and experience to protect our environment and create jobs.  If the Gulf crisis has taught us anything it is that we can’t do business as usual.  In an age where climate change threatens our way of life, tough leadership is required.

I have led Seventh Generation from its humble beginnings to its current position as the leading brand for natural home products.  Seventh Generation is a company built on the philosophy that with every action we must consider its impact on the next seven generations.  To me, this isn’t just a motto; it’s a way of life inspired by personal events.  Over ten years ago, my son Alex was in the hospital as a result of a dangerous asthma attack.  Doctors concluded that environmental factors caused the attack.  Creating a sustainable, renewable world isn’t just about the environment – it’s about our families and our future.  

Peter understands this and I can count on him to do what it takes to ensure that we leave this world better off than we found it.  I trust Peter with the next seven generations of my family.  I trust him because he has a record of getting tough things done and the strongest record on these issues.  Today, too many politicians talk about what they will do and then fail to deliver once in office.  With Peter, I don’t just like what he has to say, I like what he’s done.

•    In 2006, Peter returned to the Senate to help combat climate change and sponsored and passed a bill that Vice President Al Gore called “the toughest climate change legislation in the country.”

•    In 2008, Peter helped promote an economic development bill with key green provisions that invests stimulus funds into start up green companies and develops more predictable requirements for wind and hydro development.

•    And during this past session, Peter worked to retire Vermont Yankee, the aging nuclear power plant on schedule.

Vermont’s environment needs a leader who is willing to stand up and do the right thing – we need Peter Shumlin as our next governor.

Best Wishes,

Jeffrey Hollender

Co-Founder of Seventh Generation

(GMD has a policy of promoting all diaries from our statewide candidates. – promoted by Jack McCullough)

Check out Peter’s new video!  See why Peter wants to be Vermont’s next Governor and why he is the candidate that can get tough things done and beat Brian Dubie in November!  

(In keeping with the GMD policy of promoting first-person diaries by candidates for statewide office to the front page, here is the latest from Peter Shumlin: – promoted by Sue Prent)

As the end of the legislative session approaches, it’s time to look back at what has been accomplished in health care reform and the critical road ahead.  I was one of the sponsors of the original S.88, which would have committed the state to a single payer system and set up a process for designing and implementing it.  A single payer system is the most fiscally responsible and conservative way to create universal access to health care in Vermont.  By eliminating the profits and paperwork of insurance companies and pooling our funds, we can support a health care infrastructure that is accessible and available to everyone, and that is rational and controls costs.

S.88, the health care bill, has taken many twists and turns during this legislative session. Unfortunately, the bill does not implement universal health care in Vermont. That process will have to wait until Vermont has new leadership in the governor’s office. However, fleshing out all the details in the design of a health care system is important work that needs to begin as soon as possible. Thus, the three studies ordered by S.88 are the cornerstone of this legislation.

As the measure made its way through the legislative process, I saw several places in the bill that needed strengthening.  

First, one of the early drafts was quite vague as to the qualifications of the consultant who would be hired to conduct the studies. I feared that this left open the possibility of hiring a consultant whose expertise was insurance regulation, health care utilization analysis, or delivery system modifications. What we needed, I felt, was someone who had a track record in actually designing successful universal health care systems, and in advising governments in making the transition from private to public financing. Working with other senators, I was able to modify the language of S.88 in this regard.

Second, when the health care bill came back to the Senate from the House, it had quadrupled in length!  Working again with like-minded members of the Senate, I made sure S.88 would not implement unproven innovations, such as the insurance payment schemes suggested by the House, until after the health system studies were complete. That way any fundamental shifts in how we pay for health care, or deliver it to patients, would be based on sound evidence, and would be subject to debate in the public arena before implementation.

Many Vermonters have expressed to me their frustration at how little ever gets accomplished in the drive for universal health care in Vermont. I agree with them. It is wrong that tens of thousands of Vermonters have no health insurance, and that tens of thousands more are underinsured, and that health care debt is one of the leading causes of personal bankruptcy. And so the fact that the legislature will now study universal health care, rather than implement it, may seem disappointing to some people.

However, I believe that what we are doing in the legislature, is laying the groundwork for real progress next year.  We now need to elect a governor who has the courage to lead on health care reform. There have been momentous debates in the past-same sex marriage and Vermont Yankee come to mind-but health care will take an even greater effort. To make real change, we will need a leader who can stand up to the powerful special interests and unite business, the medical community, and people from every corner of the state around the need for publicly financed universal health care.  If elected Governor, health care reform will be one of my top priorities.  

(In keeping with GMD’s policy of promoting first-hand diaries from all gubernatorial candidates, here is the latest from Peter Shumlin. – promoted by Sue Prent)

Great news!  On April 7th S.88, the health reform bill I co-sponsored over a year ago, finally passed the Vermont Senate.  I’m grateful so many Vermonters have made their voices heard on this issue. Clearly, there is a widespread desire for meaningful, systemic reform of our health care system.  S.88, if enacted by the full Legislature, would set up a process that could move us toward universal, single payer health care in the next few years.

We still have work to do. Already, we’ve seen attempts to divert the bill toward incremental changes and delay it with unnecessary studies.  As President of the Senate and a member of the Appropriations Committee, I fought hard to ensure that the bill retained a strong single-payer component, and preserved an oversight board that would not be dominated by those opposed to reform.

I’m hopeful the House will recognize the strong bipartisan support S.88 received in the Senate, and heed the will of Vermonters as they move forward on this legislation. While S.88 is not as strong as the version I initially co-sponsored, the version passed by the Senate is far and away our best hope for controlling spiraling health care costs and making affordable health care available to all Vermonters.

When I think back on the events leading up to the Senate vote, I am reminded of the testimony of Dr. William Hsiao, the Harvard health policy economist I invited to Montpelier. Dr. Hsiao, possibly the world’s greatest expert on health system design, compared health care reform to making a quilt. He praised Vermont for making pieces of the quilt, but said we had no process for sewing the pieces together into an integrated whole.

I believe S.88 makes important strides toward sewing together Dr. Hsiao’s quilt. But in order for the Legislature to follow through, we need Vermonters to continue speaking out for health care reform.

We also need technical expertise. Dr. Hsiao has already indicated his interest in contracting with the State of Vermont to design a system that fits our unique political, economic, and social conditions. It is my hope that, if S.88 passes the full Legislature intact, we can hire Dr. Hsiao, or someone equally qualified, to be the architect of a universal health care system for Vermont. With all the details put in place over the summer, Vermont could well be on the verge of making history a year from today.

A final requirement for meaningful change is leadership. There are many opinions on what should be done, but sometimes in debating the details we lose sight of the overarching goal.  Good leadership means bringing the discussion back to fundamentals. That’s exactly what I tried to do in facilitating the negotiations between the Health Care Committee and the Appropriations Committee in deciding the language of S.88.

We need new leadership in the Governor’s office. Governor Douglas and Lieutenant Governor Dubie have shown no interest in universal health care reform. Even within my own party, there is often great hesitation and fear when it comes to proposing bold new measures. Change isn’t easy. But we can no longer watch while health care costs contribute to more and more bankruptcies. Piecemeal reform, while well-intentioned, has not solved and will not solve the greater problem that we face.

Let’s hope that S.88, combined with a groundswell of popular opinion and new leadership in the governor’s office, will propel us toward universal health care. The accomplishments so far, though just a beginning, offer a glimmer of hope. I’m proud to have been part of it. With your help, I look forward to greater success in the future.

(Continuing site policy of promoting diaries from officeholders and candidates. – promoted by GMD)

Yesterday, Vermonters were privileged to hear testimony from Dr William Hsiao – professor of Economics from Harvard. I invited Dr Hsiao to testify before the joint Health committees because of his vast experience designing successful health care systems throughout the world. Taiwan was his most acclaimed. In 1995, 45% of Taiwan’s population was uninsured. Dr Hsiao designed a single payer system and within one year the rate of uninsured dropped to only 5%.  It is currently at 1%.

The remarkable thing is that while coverage was expanded dramatically, costs dropped 8%!  Vermont’s ailing health care system also needs to be redesigned.  The best way to make progress is to have Dr. Hsiao help us design a universal health care system.  Dr Hsiao pointed out that not only could a universal health care system cut costs immediately but could slow the growth of health care costs.

Vermont has spent years trying to fix this problem with well intentioned experts who theorize about solutions.  Dr Hsiao has actually gotten the job done.  It is time to move beyond studies and theories.  It is time to design and implement a system that ensures all Vermonters have access to affordable and quality health care.    

(Continuing site policy of promoting diaries from officeholders and candidates. – promoted by kestrel9000)

I am pleased to tell you that I have invited Dr. William Hsiao, the architect of Taiwan’s health care system, to address the Senate and House Health Care committees this Thursday, March 18 at 2pm in Room 11 of the state house.  I am excited about Dr. Hsiao’s visit as it will be the first time Vermont legislators will have the opportunity to hear from a health policy expert with real-world experience in designing and creating a health care system.

Vermont families and businesses can no longer afford our broken health care system, with its escalating costs and seemingly endless obstacles to coverage. It is time for Vermont to make a commitment to move towards a system where all Vermonters have access to high quality, affordable health care.  Dr. Hsiao has the skills to redesign our health care system and I am hopeful that legislation will be passed this year that will begin that process.

Hsiao has guided successful reforms in a number of countries, including Taiwan, Sweden, Cyprus, China, Vietnam, Poland, Hong Kong, Uganda and South Africa.  Taiwan is a striking example of his use of his reform model. In 1995, the Hsiao-designed universal health care system was implemented within one year, driving down the rate of uninsured from 45% to 5% and stabilizing health spending at 6% of GDP. Quality and outcomes have improved and life expectancy for the previously uninsured has improved dramatically.

Hsiao is the K. T. Li Professor of Economics at Harvard. He is the director of the Program in Health Care Financing at the Harvard School of Public Health. He is author of many books, including 2004’s “Getting Health Reform Right.”  More information on Dr. Hsiao can be obtained at http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/fa…

I would encourage all of you to attend what is sure to be an exciting and informative event!