2010 Barack Obama - Obamacare

[History of Healthcare Reform]

There is still much debate over whether or not Obamacare is good for America, but one thing can not be denied.  President Obama promised to get a healthcare reform bill passed and he did.   It's been a long history of trying to pass healthcare reform going back to the Truman administration, just after WWII.   In 1945, President Truman recommended a proposal for universal health insurance that would be administered and paid for by a National Health Insurance Board.   Truman's opponent's in congress labeled it as "socialized medicine" and the bill died.  Truman tried again in 1948, but his efforts were derailed by the Korean War.   When Eisenhower took office, he recognized the rising cost of healthcare, but was strongly opposed to any government funded healthcare proposals.  Eisenhower said in 1954, I am flatly opposed to the socialization of medicine".  Up next, was John F. Kennedy,  he pursued a more modest form of healthcare coverage than that which was proposed by Truman. Kennedy's proposal was limited to those 65 years or older and was to be part of the Social Security benefits package.   Kennedy's proposals were defeated by powerful forces backed by the American Medical Association.   After the assassination of Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson picked up the mantle.  With the support of Democratic super-majorities in both the house and senate, Johnson steamrolled the Medicare and Medicaid programs through congress.   The 1965 amendments to Social Security provided healthcare coverage to those 65 and older, as well the blind, disabled and very poor.  Nine years later, President Richard Nixon proposed his Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan.  This plan included employer mandated healthcare for those who could not afford it, but Nixon promised to do it through private insurance programs without raising taxes.  Congress was divided between Nixon's proposal and a competing proposal by Senator Ted Kennedy.  Neither of them passed.  President Ford focused on efforts to reign in escalating costs of healthcare, but did not pursue previous attempts at universal healthcare.  Then in 1976, Jimmy Carter campaigned on a national healthcare insurance with universal healthcare.  The American Hospital Association endorsed it, and even the American Medical Association gave it tepid support, but the deep recession and other economic issues took priority.   Following Carter, President Ronald Reagan brought in a new principle of smaller government, and focused on reducing the growth of federal spending on healthcare.  After Reagan, President George H.W. Bush brought another four years of an agenda to reduce the growth of federal healthcare spending.  

So it was 12 years of Republican administration and 12 years of trying to reduce federal spending on healthcare.  Now President Clinton was going to reverse the tide.   In 1993, Clinton sent the American Health Security Act to Congress.   This act proposed to provide affordable health insurance thorough "managed competition".  Clinton wanted to expand employer-based private insurance similar to what Nixon proposed 20 years earlier.   1300 pages of complex rules and regulations was presented to Congress and it was rejected as "government-run" healthcare.   After Bill Clinton failed to deliver health care reform, President George W. Bush came into office and had to face the tragedy of 9/11 and the Iraq war.  Little was done to reform healthcare other than expansion of Medicare to provide drug coverage benefits.

Then, in 2009 President Barack Obama was going to make healthcare reform his top priority.   He campaigned on the promise of sweeping changes to the healthcare system and promised both reduced costs and increased coverage for more Americans.  In his second state of the union address, Obama reached out to congress and urged them to work with him on finally bringing health care reform to the table.  Healthcare was going to be Obama's legacy, and he would do whatever it takes to make it happen.   Here are a few excerpts from his 2010 address:

"After nearly a century of trying--Democratic administrations, Republican administrations--we are closer than ever to bringing more security to the lives of so many Americans. The approach we've taken would protect every American from the worst practices of the insurance industry. It would give small businesses and uninsured Americans a chance to choose an affordable health care plan in a competitive market. It would require every insurance plan to cover preventive care."

"Our approach would preserve the right of Americans who have insurance to keep their doctor and their plan. It would reduce costs and premiums for millions of families and businesses. And according to the Congressional Budget Office, the independent organization that both parties have cited as the official scorekeeper for Congress, our approach would bring down the deficit by as much as $1 trillion over the next two decades."

 "Here's what I ask Congress, though: Don't walk away from reform. Not now. Not when we are so close. Let us find a way to come together and finish the job for the American people. Let's get it done. Let's get it done."

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=87433
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=10096
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=4328
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=50409
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton_health_care_plan_of_1993
http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/news-analysis/a-brief-history-on-the-road-to-healthcare-reform-from-truman-to-obama.html
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https://draggarwal.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/obamahealthcare.jpg