In this presentation, NESRI and the Vermont Worker’s Center summarize the Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign’s proposals for financing universal healthcare in Vermont, based on the Campaign’s detailed report published in response to the Vermont Governor’s failure to implement the state’s universal healthcare law.
Location: Vermont
Spokesperson Training
This training presentation prepares participants for talking to the media, with the goal of developing them into effective spokespeople for the Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign.
Quick Guide for Planning an HCHR Media Spectacle
This short guide sets out 5 steps, along with a checklist of criteria, for planning a campaign action in a way that generates media coverage.
People’s Convention Facilitator’s Guide (excerpts)
These three Facilitator’s Guides were created for and used at Vermont’s People’s Convention for Human Rights in 2012. The Problem Tree workshop gets participants to map out their experiences of the human rights crisis in their communities and to identify the root causes of these problems. For Facilitator’s Guide, click here. The Principled Vision workshop […]
Human Rights Principles and Vision Workshop – Facilitator’s Guide
A facilitation guide for a workshop that presents the human rights framework as a way to articulate our vision for a different kind of world and to increase our understanding of the human rights principles. The idea of the workshop is to “exercise the muscle” in our brains that helps us think about these principles […]
Research Brief: Evidence for Adverse Health Effects of Out-of-Pocket Costs (“Cost-Sharing”)
This document summarizes research evidence showing that all forms of out-of-pocket costs, or “cost-sharing,” harm people’s health by discouraging especially low-income people from seeking necessary care and filling their medication prescriptions.
Teeter Totter
This exercise is designed to get participants wrestling with how power relationships work in our society. It offers a simple way to understand how decisions are made in our current political system and how that changes when we organize.
Leadership Development Questions for Committees
This leadership development tool is intended to be used by committees in their leadership development awareness raising, assessment and planning.
Committee Coordinator Member Brainstorm Worksheet
This worksheet, prepared by the Vermont Workers’ Center, is intended to assist Organizing Committee coordinators in both assessing their committee’s contacts and members and coming up with next steps to advance these contacts and members in their leadership development.
After Meeting Debrief Questions for Leadership Development
This list of debrief questions, prepared by the Vermont Workers’ Center, is intended to assist organizers and committee and team coordinators in thinking about the organization’s members and creating concrete next steps and plans for their ongoing leadership development.
Facilitator’s Guide to Meeting and Organizational Agreements
This guide, prepared by the Vermont Workers Center, is intended for introducing new members to the organization’s standing agreements which when observed help maintain a healthy organizational culture.
Process Tools Handout
This table, produced by the Vermont Workers’ Center, offers a great collection of team building and meeting facilitation tools for making sure that all voices and perspectives are heard, collecting feedback, building relationships, arriving at consensus, and lots more.
Door Knocking Training
This training, prepared by Put People First! PA, is intended to prepare members for participating in a door knocking drive. It reviews the purpose of door knocking, the goals of a particular drive, a rap or plan for an organizing conversation, the materials included in a door knocking kit, and a role play which clarifies […]
Anatomy of an Organizing Conversation
This document, produced by the Vermont Workers’ Center, describes the five parts of an effective and structured organizing conversation when talking to new people about the organization and its campaign.
A People’s Budget: Our Voice, Our Needs, Our Rights
This short video, produced by NESRI in collaboration with the Vermont Workers’ Center and their People’s Budget Campaign, explains how public budgets work now, and how they can and should work based on people’s voices, needs and rights. The People’s Budget Campaign won a law requiring Vermont to develop a budget that addresses needs, advances […]
Stories Project – Guide to Getting Video Testimonies
This guide, produced by the Vermont Workers’ Center, provides best practices for collecting Healthcare Is a Human Right video testimonials that speak to both personal struggles with the current health care system as well as visions for a universal health care system.
Letters to the Editor Writeathon
This online Letter to the Editor form, featured on the Vermont Workers’ Center’s website, offers useful tips for writing letters to the editor and the ability to submit letters directly to Vermont media outlets.
Letters to the Editor Worksheet
This worksheet, produced by the Vermont Workers’ Center, provides an easy to use template for writing a Healthcare Is a Human Right letter to the editor. The Vermont Workers’ Center’s website also features an online Letter to the Editor form that offers useful tips for writing letters to the editor and the ability to submit […]
The People’s Media Project: Media and Communications in the Movement
This article describes the Vermont Workers’ Center’s approach to media and communications. Amongst the many themes it addresses are how the VWC thinks about making media, the role movement media plays in shifting public discourse and creating a shared vision based on human rights principles, and how media makers are also organizers.
Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign 10 Financing Standards
These human rights standards for financing healthcare were developed by Vermont’s Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign as part of a detailed rights-based proposal for financing the state’s universal healthcare system. Download the standards below or read the full proposal here.
Towards Equitable Financing of Green Mountain Care
In this report, the Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign sets out financing standards for universal healthcare and specifies a mix of equitable revenue sources for financing Vermont’s universal healthcare system.
The Policy Story of Vermont’s Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign
This table illustrates the five stages of Vermont’s Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign from a policy perspective. It outlines which policy tools have been developed for which advocacy phase of the campaign with reference to the human rights framework.
“Lines-in-the-Sand” Tool for Campaign Decision-making
This set of 10 criteria was developed by Vermont’s Healthcare Is a Human Right campaign to facilitate the determination of “lines-in-the-sand” for specific issues, which may arise over the course of advocacy activities, such as new opportunities or threats to the campaign’s policy positions. A “line-in-the sand” means that a campaign commits to taking action […]
Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign Policy Positions Worksheet
This policy training tool was designed to help Vermont Workers’ Center members to better link their own healthcare stories to the HCHR Campaign’s collectively agreed policy positions, thus enabling members to communicate and advocate for policy positions in a more compelling and effective way.
New Member Handbook
This handbook orients new members of the Vermont Workers’ Center to the organization’s mission, analysis and strategic orientation, history, structure, human rights organizing approach, campaigns, fundraising, budget, by laws and organizational agreements. It also provides new members with lessons from the organization’s Healthcare Is a Human Right campaign, a list of organizational partners and movement […]
Healthcare is a Human Right Rally – Audio Slideshow May Day 2009, Vermont
This video features photos from the Vermont Workers’ Center’s 2009 May Day rally for the Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign, paired with audio from interviews and speeches at the rally.
Picture Healthcare as a Human Right: Every Face Has a Story
This video features people from around the state holding Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign signs in a show of solidarity.
Lessons from the Healthcare Fight
This article presents the responses of 6 organizers from around the country to the question: “what can left organizers learn from the fight over healthcare?”
The Vermont Workers’ Center Leads Breakthrough on Healthcare
This article discusses the history of the Vermont Workers’ Center and their movement for universal healthcare.
Growing the Healthcare Is a Human Right Movement, One State After Another
At the 2013 Left Forum in New York City, leaders from the Healthcare Is a Human Right campaigns in Vermont, Maine and Maryland presented their organizing model for achieving universal, publicly financed health care in their states. Moderated by NESRI, panelists discussed their collaboration, lessons learned, and how to expand this movement to other states.
Peg Franzen Tribute Video
NESRI and the Poverty Initiative held an event at the Church Center of the United Nations in honor of Peg Franzen, a community leader who made an incalculable contribution to growing the movement for health care as a human right.
Healthcare Is a Human Right Roundtable Discussion Video – Human Rights Day, December 10th, 2013
On Human Rights Day, December 10th, 2013, NESRI and the Poverty Initiative held an event at the Church Center of the United Nations in honor of Peg Franzen, a community leader who made an incalculable contribution to growing the movement for health care as a human right. At the event Laura Flanders of GRITtv facilitated […]
The Time Is Now! Equitable Healthcare Financing for Vermont, Explained in Under 3 Minutes!
This short video gives a concise explanation of the Vermont Campaign’s equitable financing plan for universal healthcare.
Healthcare Is a Human Right MayDay Rally
On May 1st, 2009, the Vermont Workers’ Center brought the human right to health care to the nation’s attention with its first large Mayday rally at the Statehouse in Montpelier. The Healthcare is a Human Right rally was endorsed by over 100 organizations, including NESRI, faith and labor leaders, and other national and state-based organizations. […]
Vermont Workers’ Center Video Submission to the UN’s Universal Periodic Review
This 1 minute video clip was prepared by the Vermont Workers’ Center for the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review, to see why Vermont’s health care system does not meet human rights standards.
Vermonters Stand Up Against Insurance Profiteering
This short video presents some of the ways in which for-profit insurance companies take advantage of people and encourages watchers to join the Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign.
Fighting for Universal Healthcare at the State Level: Vermont Workers’ Center Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign
Because the federal health reform package fails to make health care truly universal and equitable, human right to health care advocates across the country are pushing their state legislatures to implement more effective and comprehensive measures at the state level. In Vermont, for example, the Vermont Workers’ Center’s Healthcare is a Human Right Campaign has […]
Vermonters Demand an Equitable Health System
As a universal, equitable health care system is within reach for Vermonters, the Healthcare is a Human Right Campaign (run by the Vermont Workers’ Center) has released this short video of Vermonters demanding an equitable health care system. The Vermont legislature is considering a bill for a roadmap to a single-payer system in Vermont.
Vermonters Demand a Universal Health System
As a universal, equitable health care system is within reach for Vermonters, the Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign (run by the Vermont Workers’ Center) has released this short video of Vermonters demanding a universal health care system. The Vermont legislature is considering a bill for a roadmap to a single-payer system in Vermont.
Vermonters Demand an Accountable Health System
A universal health care system that’s accountable to the people is now within Vermonters’ reach. The Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign (run by the Vermont Workers’ Center) has released this short video of Vermonters demanding an accountable health care system. The video is part of a series, all featuring Vermonters calling for a new […]
A People’s Struggle for Universal Healthcare
A universal health care system that’s accountable to the people is now within Vermonters’ reach. The Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign (run by the Vermont Workers’ Center) has released this short video of Vermonters demanding an accountable health care system. The video is part of a series, all featuring Vermonters calling for a new […]
Vermont Workers’ Center: How we Won Healthcare for All
Vermont Workers’ Center organizers Mary Gerisch, Kate Kanelstein and Sarah Weintraub visit Oregon and talk about the Healthcare is a Human Right Campaign and how the campaign succeeded in bringing universal health care to their state.
VT Breakthrough! How the Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign Is Winning a Healthcare System that Puts People First
This video tells the story of a successful grassroots campaign organizing for our human rights. This video is co-produced by the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI) and the Vermont Workers’ Center, with thanks to Media Mobilizing Project, Nate Adams and Mindi Mumaw. Music provided by: “Shovel Ready” by Flat Top Trio, Jeremy Sicely […]
Economists Throw Weight Behind Universal Health Care in Vermont
This article in Common Dreams reprints the open letter from economists to Vermont legislature calling for universal, publicly financed healthcare. The article concludes that “Thursday’s letter indicates that the grassroots movement has not lost momentum.”
Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign Testimony, Joint Health Care Committee Hearing
This testimony was presented by Traven Leyshon on behalf of the Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign to the Joint Health Committee Hearing on January 29, 2015. It calls for equitable healthcare financing and demands a democratic process for implementing universal healthcare in Vermont, following the Governor’s unilateral decision not to adopt a public financing […]
Vermont Human Rights Council Calls for a Budget that Advances Equity and Dignity
This statement by organizations affiliated with the Vermont Human Rights Council responds to Gov. Shumlin’s budget address and calls on legislators to formulate a budget that meets the fundamental needs of all residents.
Can’t Afford Not to Act
In this op-ed, a Vermont nurse speaks out about how the current healthcare system fails to meet her patients’ needs.
Put People First! PA Stands with the Vermont Workers Center
This statement from Put People First! Pennsylvania expresses solidarity with the Vermont Workers’ Center following Gov. Shumlin’s abandonment of the universal healthcare agenda and explains why timely healthcare reform is crucial.
Solidarity with the Vermont Workers Center on their January 8th Day of Action for All Healthcare for All People
This statement form the Southern Maine Workers’ Center expresses solidarity with the Vermont Workers’ Center in their protests following Gov. Shumlin’s decision to abandon his commitment to healthcare reform.
Now More Than Ever: Growing the Movement for the Right to Health Care and Economic Justice
In this statement, NESRI reflects on why Vermont Governor Shumlin abandoned public healthcare financing and offers lessons and ideas for next steps for the movement in Vermont and elsewhere.
29 Arrested After Statehouse Protest
The Burlington Free Press covers the Vermont State House sit-in. The article highlights legislators’ perspectives on the protests as well as Vermont Workers’ Center President James Haslam’s comments.
‘We Won’t Back Down’ — Vermonters Launch Sit-In At Statehouse Demanding Universal Health Care ‘Now!’
Common Dreams covers the Vermont State House sit-in demanding universal healthcare. The article highlights the protests in response to Gov. Shumlin’s abandonment of the universal healthcare agenda and gives background on the Healthcare Is a Human Right movement.
29 Arrested as Single-Payer Advocates Disrupt Vermont Gov. Shumlin’s Inauguration
Democracy Now speaks with Vermont Workers’ Center President James Haslam in their coverage of the Vermont State House sit-in demanding single-payer universal healthcare.
Sitting In for Healthcare
This op-ed was written by one of the 29 members of the Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign who staged a sit-in in the Vermont State House and were arrested as a result. The author tells how he was personally affected by a healthcare system that doesn’t meet human rights standards, and calls on legislature […]
Now Is The Time: Calling legislators to action on universal healthcare financing
This letter calls on Vermont state legislators to end the ongoing healthcare crisis and work to develop a public financing proposal for universal healthcare that meets human rights standards.
National Open Letter in Support of Universal, Publicly Financed Healthcare in Vermont
This open letter, signed by 70 organizations, urges Gov. Shumlin not to give up on universal, equitably financed healhtcare and calls on the Vermont legislature redouble their efforts to develop and agree on a public financing plan that advances equity and realizes Vermonters’ right to healthcare.
Statement on Governor’s Failure to Act on Universal Healthcare
This statement from the Vermont Workers’ Center responds to Gov. Shumlin’s failure to act on universal healthcare.
Moving Forward with Healthcare
In this op-ed Vermont Workers’ Center President James Haslam responds to Gov. Shumlin’s decision to abandon his commitment to single-payer universal healthcare.
Open Letter from Economists for Universal, Publicly Financed Healthcare
This letter, signed and submitted by over 100 economists, states that universal, publicly financed healthcare is not only economically feasible but highly preferable to a fragmented market-based insurance system.
Equitable Financing of Universal Healthcare in Vermont
This document outlines the Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign’s plan for equitable financing of universal healthcare in Vermont.
Equitable Financing Plan for Vermont’s Universal Healthcare System
In this report, the Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign shows how public financing for universal healthcare can be achieved in Vermont by 2017. It presents detailed cost and revenue models that demonstrate it is not only possible, but financially and economically advantageous to implement a publicly financed healthcare system in Vermont. Download the report […]
Despite Setbacks, Vermont Grassroots Campaign Pushes for First-in-Nation Single Payer Health Care System
Between the Lines interviews Anja Rudiger, NESRI Director of Programs, about the equitable financing proposal released by the Vermont Healthcare Is a Human Right Campain.
Why Universal Health Care Is Essential for a More Equitable Society
This article explains why the current healthcare system is exacerbating inequality in our society and how public healthcare financing can help change this. It uses the equitable healthcare financing plan introduced by Vermont’s Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign to illustrate why healthcare is a matter of equality.
Healthcare Is a Human Right: Lessons from the Vermont Model
In this 2014 Left Forum presentation, NESRI’s Anja Rudiger sums up the strategic lessons from Vernont’s Healthcare Is a Human Right movement and explains the domino strategy of health care wins across the country.
Using Human Rights for Health Care Advocacy
This presentation sets out the basics for using a human rights approach to develop broad-based campaigns and advocacy initiatives for health care reform, illustrated with examples of lessons learned from Vermont’s Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign.
Toward a Unified Policy Approach for Healthcare Is a Human Right and the People’s Budget
This document outlines how the key policy positions for universal healthcare, as formulated by Vermont’s HCHR campaign, are aligned with policy demands for a People’s Budget, i.e. human rights-based budget and revenue policies that meet people’s needs and raise revenue equitably.
Building Local Support for the Human Right to Healthcare
This presentation, prepared for the conference “Health and Human Rights in Connecticut” at the University of Connecticut, April 28, 2011, shows how the human rights framework can be used for health reform advocacy in the United States, with examples from Montana and Vermont.
What’s Next for Universal Healthcare in Vermont? Transition to Green Mountain Care
This presentation outlines the next steps on the road to Green Mountain Care, explains important decisions that must be taken during the transition phase, and shows how to use the human rights principles as guidance in the transition process.
Vermont Universal Access to Healthcare Act (Act 128)
Written legislation for Vermont universal healthcare bill.
Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign Presents Testimony in Vermont Statehouse
This document explains how the testimony presented by the Vermont Workers’ Center to a joint session of the health committees translates human rights principles into health care reform.
Vermont Declaration of Human Rights
Vermont’s People’s Convention for Human Rights, held in September 2012 with over 40 organizations participating, adopted this declaration of human rights, which outlines the current human rights crisis, its root causes, and the vision for realizing human rights.
The Right to Health: From Concept to Action
This chapter describes the Right to Health framework and discusses how it can be used by health activists.
Op-Ed: New Solution for Universal Healthcare
This article examines how the Supreme Court challenge to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) creates an opportunity to reevaluate healthcare reform — and explains how Vermont’s human rights model for healthcare reform meets people’s fundamental needs in a way that the ACA’s market-based model cannot.
Lessons from the Single-Payer State
The Vermont Workers’ Center puts forward five key lessons from its campaign to pass a universal healthcare law, which can be applied to movement building efforts more generally.
The Medicine for America’s Healthcare Headache Lies in Vermont
This Alternet article tracks the history of the movement for single-payer, universal healthcare in Vermont.
Bernie Sanders: Healthcare is a Right Not a Privilege
In this article, Senator Bernie Sanders affirms healthcare as a right and states that “at the end of the day, as difficult as it may be, the fight for a national health care program will prevail. Like the civil rights movement, the struggle for women’s rights and other grass-roots efforts, justice in this country is […]
The Struggle for Healthcare at the State and National Levels: Vermont as a Catalyst for National Change
This article describes the Healthcare Is a Human Right organizing model, and explains why a campaign based on values and on grassroots organizing is necessary to achieve change.
Using Human Rights To Move Beyond the Politically Possible
This article decribes how the Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign changed the rhetoric of Healthcare in Vermont and made it possible to get universal coverage passed
The Vermont Breakthrough: Grassroots Organizing Moves a State towards Healthcare for All
This article tells the story of the grassroots organizing that led to the passage of Vermont’s universal health care law by changing what is politically possible through a mass organizing campaign.
Reviving Progressive Activism: A Case Study of Vermont’s Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign
This case study of Vermont’ Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign presents the history of the campaign and its 2011 success, analyses the rationale, strategy and tactics of the campaign, and offers lessons learned for developing transformative grassroots campaigns.
The Battle of the Story Matrix – Healthcare Is a Human Right
This chart uses the Battle of the Story framework to analyze the issue of healthcare and reframe the narrative around the idea that healthcare is a human right.
The Battle of the Story Worksheet
This exercise, created by the Center for Story-Based Strategy, is intended to help grassroots activists analyze the current narrative climate around an issue and create more compelling narratives to communicate their campaigns. The Vermont Workers’ Center used this exercise in developing their narrative strategy in the lead up to their universal health care victory in […]
The People’s Media Project: Media and Communications in the Movement
This article provides an introduction to the Vermont Worker’s Center’s approach to media and communications.
Using a Human Rights Framework and Grassroots Organizing to Build a Revolutionary Movement
This essay advocates for the use of a human rights framework and grassroots organizing strategy to create class-conscious solidarity and build a revolutionary movement for economic rights.
It’s Not Enough to Be Angry
This article shares lessons learned for effective organizing and focuses on the importance of uniting across issues to create a powerful movement capable of confronting the fundamental problem of economic injustice.
Teach as We Fight, Learn as We Lead (Poverty Initiative)
This article focuses on the importance of thoughtful leadership and education as the keys to an effective movement to end poverty.
Vermont Workers’ Center Mission Statement and Strategic Orientation
This document is a statement of the Vermont Workers’ Center mission and strategic orientation.
People’s Recipe Ingredients – Key Points for Facilitators
The People’s Recipe was developed by the Vermont Workers’ Center through their Healthcare Is a Human Right campaign and the Put People First campaign, and by learning from other people’s organizations and movements. The People’s Recipe highlights the key ingredients of the Vermont Workers’ Center’s organizing model. This resource provides a brief definition and key […]
The People’s Recipe (for People’s Convention)
This document explains and gives examples of seven key organizing principles.
Facilitator’s Guide to Using the Agreements
This document details the ground rules developed by the Vermont Workers’ Center for creating and maintaining a positive and inclusive environment in organizing meetings.
Solidarity School Facilitator’s Guide 2011
This resource provides a comprehensive guide and agenda for facilitators of the Vermont Workers’ Center’s Solidarity School, a two-day organizing and political education workshop held annually since 2007.
Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign 2010 FAQ
This FAQ from from 2010 answers questions about the Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign in Vermont.
Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign Comments on the draft “Hsiao” report
This document poses questions and comments on the healthcare system proposals drafted by Dr. Hsiao for Green Mountain Care. It raises concerns about the delay before implementation of universal coverage, calls for the inclusion of undocumented workers under the principal of universality, and questions whether the proposals provide equity of access and financing.
Human Rights Assessment of the “Hsiao” Healthcare System Design Options
This document charts detailed assessments of the healthcare system design proposals presented by Dr. William Hsiao for Green Mountain Care.
Vermont Workers’ Center People’s Toolkit
This is a comprehensive guide to assist Healthcare Is a Human Right campaign members in answering common questions, applying the human rights principles, evaluating legislative proposals and advocating with legislators.
Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign Renews Call for Legislature to Move Forward, Not Backward, on Healthcare Reform
This statement calls on the Vermont Legislature to protect the rights of low-income Vermonters who were forced into the federally-mandated health insurance ”exchange” marketplace pursuing the ’Affordable Care Act’. It emphasizes the importance of continued access to care for low-income people who were covered under Vermont’s Catamount and VHAP health insurance programs.
Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign Analysis of the Administration’s Financing Report
This document provides an analysis of and response to the Vermont State Administration’s healthcare financing report and was presented by the Healthcare is a Human Right Campaign to the House Committee on Health Care on January 30, 2013.
The People’s Address
This Address on the future of Vermont’s budget and healthcare systems was delivered by the Vermont Workers’ Center and its Put People First partners. The People’s Address was given ahead of the Governor’s Budget Address and the Administration’s presentation of a financing plan for universal healthcare on January 24, 2013.
Put People First Agenda
This Address on the future of Vermont’s budget and healthcare systems was delivered by the Vermont Workers’ Center and its Put People First partners. The People’s Address was given ahead of the Governor’s Budget Address and the Administration’s presentation of a financing plan for universal healthcare on January 24, 2013.
Parameters for the Equitable Financing of Green Mountain Care
This document describes the requirements for the equitable financing of Vermont’s universal healthcare system, Green Mountain Care.
How Green Mountain Care Should Be Financed
This factsheet outlines how Vermont’s universal healthcare system, Green Mountain Care, should be financed in order to ensure it meets human rights standards.
Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign Responds to Leaked Healthcare Financing Proposal
This document is the Healthcare is a Human Right Campaign’s response to leaked information regarding Vermont Governor Shumlin’s financing plans for Green Mountain Care.
Health Workers and Green Mountain Care
This document explains why Green Mountain Care is good for doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals, and emphasizes the importance of solidarity between patients and health workers in calling for universal healthcare.
2014 Questions about Universal Healthcare
This document provides answers to frequently asked questions about Green Mountain Care and the Affordable Care Act.
Human Rights Standards for Healthcare Benefits
These human rights standards for health care “benefits” were developed by Vermont’s Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign to hold the government accountable for enabling access to all needed care and meeting all health needs.
Human Rights Assessment Tool for Healthcare Benefits
This tool enables a human rights assessment of a healthcare benefits proposals, based on key human rights principles. It was developed for assessing the Green Mountain Care universal healthcare system planned in Vermont.
Healthcare Is a Human Rights Campaign Policy Positions 2014/2015
This document outlines the 2014-2015 policy positions for the Healthcare is a Human Right Campaign.
From Coverage to Care: Re-envisioning Our Healthcare System
This statement sets out the Vermont Campaign’s position on healthcare “benefits,” demanding a shift from a limited “benefits” model, which restricts access to care based on what is covered by an insurance plan, to a comprehensive model that guarantees access to all needed care.
Responsibilities and Rights in Healthcare
This document offers talking points regarding rights and responsibilities in healthcare.
Affordable Care Act Supreme Court Challenge FAQ
This document explains the significance of the 2012 Supreme Court case dealing with challenges to the federal healthcare reform act and responds to frequently asked questions regarding the relationship between the ”Affordable Care Act” and the human right to healthcare.
Voices of Vermont’s Economic Crisis: The Challenge to Put People First
This report details the unmet needs of Vermonters, describes how current systems are violating their human rights, and presents a vision for moving towards a more democratic and accountable government that prioritizes the needs and rights of the people.
Healthcare Is a Human Right: Confronting the Immigration Wedge in Vermont – Case Study for Communications Strategies for Community Organizing
This article is part of a report by the Echo Justice Communications Collaborative on developing innovative and effective communications strategies for community organizing. The article describes how the Vermont Healthcare is a Human Right Campaign used the human rights principle of universality to preempt division over immigration status and ensure that the healthcare law included […]
Voices of the Vermont Healthcare Crisis: The Human Right to Healthcare
This report introduces the concept of healthcare as a human right and documents human rights abuses in the Vermont healthcare system.
A Moral Obligation Still Unmet
This document details the shortcomings of federal healthcare reform plans and calls on Vermonters to unite in their shared values and continue their legacy as a leading force in establishing human rights by rallying for the human right to universal, publicly financed healthcare.
Vermont Workers’ Center Statement on Commencement of Green Mountain Care Board
This statement by the Vermont Workers’ Center calls on Governor Shumlin’s administration and the board responsible for the development of Green Mountain Care’s budget and benefits package to continually guide its decisions by the human rights principles outlined in Act 48 — universality, equity (of access and financing), transparency and accountability, participation. The statement notes […]
Statement on Equitable Financing of Green Mountain Care
This statement by the Vermont Workers’ Center calls for equitable, public financing of Vermont’s universal healthcare system (Green Mountain Care) through income taxes based on ability to pay as well as a progressive payroll tax paid by employers.
Statement on the Green Mountain Care Financing and Benefits Debate
This statement by the Vermont Workers’ Center calls on the Governor Shumlin’s administration to replace costly health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs with an equitable financing mechanism. It explains why “benefits packages” do not meet people’s health needs and places limitations on their ability to get comprehensive care.
Healthcare is a Human Right Campaign Proposal for Equitable Financing of Green Mountain Care
This document introduces the Healthcare is a Human Right Campaign’s proposal for equitable healthcare financing, which would replace premiums, deductibles and co-pays with public financing through progressive taxation.
Worker’s Compensation: Governor Should Prioritize Workers’ Health Over Industry Interests
This document is a joint statement by the Vermont Workers’ Center, Vermont AFL-CIO, Vermont Federation of Nurses & Health Professionals Local 5221, and United Electrical Workers Northeast Region calling for integration/alignment of workers’ compensation with Vermont’s universal healthcare coverage (Green Mountain Care).
Detailed Standards for Assessing Vermont’s Healthcare Reform Proposals
This assessment chart defines the detailed human right to health care standards developed by Vermont’s Healthcare Is a Human Right campaign in 2010 to evaluate the reform proposals put forward by Dr. Hsiao (under Act 128 Vermont law).
Human Rights Principles for Healthcare
This document presents Vermont’s Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign’s original statement of the five human rights principles (universality, equity, accountability, transparency, and participation).
Vermont Workers’ Center Healthcare Survey
This seven-question survey is designed to collect information about access to healthcare and give participants the chance to get involved further in the Healthcare is a Human Right Campaign.
Building a Grassroots Movement for HRHC
In this document, the Vermont Worker’s Center shares their experience and lessons learned in building a Healthcare is a Human Right Campaign.
Vermont Must Lead the Way on Healthcare
This op-ed by James Haslam, Director of the Vermont Workers’ Center, explains why the federal healthcare reform model, which offers public options alongside private insurance coverage, is a half-measure that will not protect the people’s human rights. The article urges fundamental change that establishes healthcare as a public good, not a market commodity.
The Tactic Star for Choosing and Evaluating Tactics
The tactic star is a tool that presents key factors for activists to use in developing and evaluating strategy.
Campaign Planning Practice
This tool describes how to use the Issue Assessment Chart to carry out an exercise in campaign planning.
Issue Assessment Chart
This chart is designed as a tool to help activists discuss the strength of an issue for organizing.
Human Rights Principles – Easy-To-Read Version
This one-page document presents concise, easy-to-read descriptions of the five human rights principles at the core of the Healthcare is a Human RIght Campaign.
Organizing Quotes
This document pulls together inspirational quotes on the power of organizing.
Facilitator’s Guide to Using the Agreements
This document details the ground rules developed by the Vermont Workers’ Center for creating and maintaining a positive and inclusive environment in organizing meetings.
Vermont Workers’ Center Healthcare Survey
This seven-question survey is designed to collect information about access to healthcare and give participants the chance to get involved further in the Healthcare is a Human Right Campaign.
Frequent Messaging Mistakes
This document explains common mistakes in campaign messaging and provides more effective alternatives.