Vermont's Catamount Health: A Roadmap For Health Care Reform?

Vermont's new health reform program was enacted under a Republican governor in a state with a Democrat-controlled legislature. It thus serves as an intriguing approach to resolving political differences in health care. James Maxwell's interview of Vermont governor Jim Douglas provides background and insight on these reforms. I build on the interview, focusing on what changed between the 2005 reform failure and the passage of the new reforms. Key to the reform's political success was the recognition by both sides that it focused on issues of bipartisan concern: cost control through the effective management and prevention of disease.