The United States Congress, The World Bank, UNICEF, the World Health Organization, and the governments of China and at least half a dozen other countries have all folded Hsiao’s work into their policies.

Li Professor of Economics at Harvard School of Public Health. Vermont is just the latest government to seek out the advice of the K. If past performance could predict future events, then the smart money would be on Hsiao. Some politicians disagreed on ideological grounds.īut the biggest question was whether Hsiao would prevail on an issue where governors, even presidents, had failed. Industry groups doubted the touted savings. Health insurers worried they could be shut out of Vermont if it adopted Hsiao’s plan. It was a turning point in a fierce national debate, and many in the audience didn’t like what they heard. The plan promised to save Vermont $500 million in the first year, create 3,800 new jobs, ensure health care coverage for every citizen in the state, and reduce the amount many citizens and businesses pay for health care. He then delivered a second punch line of sorts: a radical plan to create the first state-level single-payer health care system in the United States.

“I asked him if he would spend $50 billion to manufacture a shuttle to reach the moon,” said Hsiao. Looking professorial in a suit and dark tie, Hsiao warmed up the crowd by describing a recent conversation he’d had with a nameless insurance executive-insurance executives being among the more vocal dissenters to his policy prescriptions. Above him stood hundreds of onlookers in the observation gallery, crammed shoulder to shoulder. Before him sat both chambers of the state legislature. On January 19, 2011, HSPH professor William Hsiao walked onto the podium in the well of the Vermont State House.

The art of getting things done