Protest signs seen at protect Medicaid lights up Capitol amid budget showdown, on May 7, 2025, in Washington, DC. | Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for Caring Across Generations Twelve years ago, Vermont Democrats tried to make their state the first in the nation to have a single-payer government-financed healthcare system — a bold experiment to push the limits of American health coverage when Obamacare was just being launched. Their plan failed, and rebooting it became politically impossible, even in Vermont: The Democrats lost the governorship to Republican Phil Scott for what turned out t...