"[T]hose on the left argue that it did not go far enough"

[sheshe2]

16. Change takes time.

And the effects are not always apparent in the beginning. As with Obamacare, it is a leap in the right direction. Not perfect, no but as seen in Vermont it will eventually lead to single payer. It won't happen by itself, we have to keep fighting hard for it to happen.

Vermont health care reform

In 2011, the Vermont state government enacted a law functionally establishing the first state-level single-payer health care system in the United States. Green Mountain Care, established by the passage of H.202, creates a system in the state where Vermonters receive universal health care coverage as well as technological improvements to the existing system.

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The three options were laid out as following:

Option 1: As laid out by the requirements of Act 128, the first option would create "a government-administered and publicly financed single-payer health benefit system decoupled from employment which prohibits insurance coverage for the health services provided by this system and allows for private insurance coverage only of supplemental health services."[4] The proposal considered this option to be the easiest path to single-payer, but was critical of the "complex and inefficient process" of proof of residency needs.

Option 2: As laid out by the requirements of S 88, the second option would create "a public health benefit option administered by state government, which allows individuals to choose between the public option and private insurance coverage and allows for fair and robust competition among public and private plans."[4] The commission noted that this option did not provide universal coverage on its own or the enforcement mechanism in place for any possible mandates put in place to achieve more coverage.

Option 3: Act 128 allowed the commission to design a system that met the various principles outlined in Section 2 of the Act.[1] The commission's design ultimately sought out an "approach to Option 3... by combining three studies to ascertain what type of universal health insurance, what methods of financing, and what type of single payer system is most likely to be politically and practically viable for Vermont."

The commission's proposal ultimately considered the third option to be "the most politically and practically viable single payer system for Vermont," noting that Vermont, "a small state with communitarian values," with its existing network of non-profit hospitals and a medical structure that had shown previous support in state intervention, would be "uniquely poised to pass universal health reform."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont_health_care_reform