How Math, Lawsuits, and Jonathan Gruber Killed Vermont's Single-Payer Health Care Dream
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Economics professor Jonathan Gruber testifies before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about his work on the Affordable Care Act in the Rayburn House Office building on Capitol Hill December 9, 2014 in Washington, DC
Photographer: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images"I think we have the chance to make history here," wrote Jonathan Gruber.
It was the summer of 2014, and Gruber, who had yet to become the infamous goat of the Affordable Care Act debate, was consulting with the state of Vermont on its health-care reforms. He was not wrong: Vermont, run stem-to-stern by Democrats since the 2010 election, was attempting to use the benefits of the ACA to enact single-payer, universal health care coverage. If successful, it would bring about the dream of Canadian-style care to one state. Who could say which states would follow suit? Maybe all of New England? Maybe all 50?