In 2011, Vermont became the first state in the nation to commit to a single payer system. It’s to convert to this system by 2017. And while Vermont is a small unique state, proponents of single payer systems will point out that Canada’s national health plan started by one province–Saskatchewan–reforming how it paid for care. So a lot of people are paying attention to what is going on in Vermont. This week’s Healthstyles program opens with co-producer and host Diana Mason, PhD, RN, interviewing Betty Rambur, PhD, RN, professor of Nursing and Health Policy at the University of Vermont approach to a single payer system. Dr. Rambur is one of five members of Vermont’s Green Mountain Care board, a new independent agency that will oversee the development and implementation of the single payer system. Vermont’s success or failure can inform proposals in other states that are considering adoption of a single payer system, including in New York. As you’ll see, it’s not an easy challenge.
Then Healthstyles co-producer Kenya Beard, EdD, RN, joins Diana in talking about health disparities and hypertension with Dr. Carla Boutin Foster, associate professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical Cllege and the Principal Investigator for the Center for Excellence in Health Disparities Research. Her research has focused on reducing health disparities in cardiovascular disease and cancer, with particular attention to the Harlem community of African Americans.
So tune into Healthstyles on Thursday, December 4, 2014, on WBAI, 99.5 FM or online at wbai.org. Or listen to the interview here:
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Healthstyles is sponsored by the Center for Health, Media & Policy at Hunter College, City University of New Yori.
