HERE IT COMES – EUROPE IN AMERICA – AT 10:04 A.M. ET:  Some critics of Obamacare claim it's just the first step in a move toward a European-style "single payer" system in America.  The Obamans say they are shocked, shocked, by such a charge.  Yet, one of the most "progressive" states in America – Vermont – is already heading toward single payer.  You may be sure Vermont will soon be used as the example whereby the left moves toward socialized medicine in America.  From Fox: 

WASHINGTON – While all eyes are on the ObamaCare rollout, an ambitious health care experiment is going forward in Vermont that would create a government-run alternative know as a "single-payer" system -- and it's starting to attract more attention from liberals frustrated with the Affordable Care Act's implementation.

Democrats' faith in ObamaCare has been shaken by the technical failures of the federal and state insurance exchanges as well as, in some cases, premium increases. In Vermont, however, they see a potential first step toward the kind of national government-run health care system some have advocated for years. Filmmaker Michael Moore, in a column last week blasting ObamaCare, said Vermont's plan could "change everything."

Michael Moore is now an expert on health care?  I guess when no one wants to see your movies...

But critics say the proposal goes too far and would kill thousands of jobs. "It’s not practical,” Vermont state Rep. Patti Komline, who voted against the plan, told FoxNews.com. “There are too many complications involved.”

A single-payer plan would largely sideline the insurance industry, and instead set up a government-managed insurance system to collect all health care fees and pay out all health care costs.

Full implementation of Vermont’s single-payer plan could be held up for another three years, at least. In order for Green Mountain Care to fully launch in 2017, the health care exchange would have to get approval from the federal government to use federal money to fund the state program.

State law would also require Vermont to define the benefits of the single-payer program and provide a three-year budget that clocks in less than current health care costs.

University of Virginia public policy professor Raymond Scheppach said it will take another half decade to determine whether Vermont’s controversial plan even works and if there are any real benefits associated with it. He also says that regardless of outcome, Vermont’s political makeup differs from other states and therefore would not provide an accurate view of what’s to come.

COMMENT:  The problem with single payer is in its name.  It's a monopoly, and monopolies quickly turn into rigid bureaucracies, incapable of progress.  (Remember the days when you had to rent your telephone from the phone company, and a long-distance call cost ten dollars?) 

European single-payer system do have some good points, but they are slow, and they do indeed have death panels, which decide on the "standard of care" for an entire population.  A chilling prospect for an individualistic society like ours. 

January 8, 2013