The Vermont Senate has passed stage two of Vermont’s push to get as close as it can to a universal, single-payer health care system by late in this decade.
By a 20-7 vote, the Senate approved a House-passed bill that sets up a regulated health care marketplace, or exchange, and requires employers with 50 or fewer workers to either enroll their employees in the exchange or let them do so on their own.
In the House meanwhile, lawmakers gave initial approval to a bill designed to increase transparency in the health insurance industry. It requires insurers to report annually on what percentage of claims are denied, and to make top executives’ salaries public.