On Tuesday evening, Vermont lawmakers passed a health care bill requiring the state to create plans for establishing a universal health care system based on human rights principles.

One of three design plans to be submitted for implementation must be a publicly-funded single payer system, according to S. 88, the "Universal Access To Health Care Act." Passage of this bill came a little over a week after U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders joined over fifteen hundred Vermonters at a "Healthcare is a Human Right" rally at Vermont’s Statehouse organized by NESRI partner the Vermont Workers’ Center (VWC).

Listen to New Hampshire Public Radio’s podcast “An Interesting Turn for Healthcare in Vermont” which features VWC Director James Haslam.