Ever wonder how a Canadian-style...

...single-payer health care system would work in the United States? (Admit it; you lie awake at night thinking about this stuff!)

Well, you may not have to wonder much longer, because Vermont is getting close to adopting that model on the state level (my emphasis):

The Vermont Senate passed a bill yesterday that will move the state toward a single-payer health system. Since it had already been passed by the state House, the two bills just need to be reconciled, and then Vermont will be on its way... 

This is just the start of a process in Vermont -- many questions are left to be answered by a commission, including how the funding will work. The system could end up looking something like what they have in France: a basic public plan that covers everyone, with most people buying supplemental private insurance on top of that. The most important change may be that Green Mountain Care could cut the link between employment and health care.