Health Care
The history of American health care is exceptional, and not in a positive way. Every other developed nation has a cradle to the grave universal health care system. Several presidents attempted to provide universal healthcare, but every attempt was defeated by industry and conservative opposition. Several significant gains were made over the years: Medicare provided access to coverage for the elderly, Medicaid for the very poor, SCHIP for children, and COBRA for the previously insured unemployed. But it wasn’t until 2010 that a universal health care bill, the Affordable Care Act, was finally signed into law by President Barack Obama.
Commentary
Cry Wolf Quotes
We have arrived at socialized medicine in America. I do not report this as either a good or bad event but simply as something that has happened with hardly anyone realizing it. This is the first result -- and probably the most important -- of the national health care debate launched last week by President Clinton. Our politics and economy will never again be the same.
The last thing we need is Hillarycare. The last thing we need is socialized medicine.
[The bill] raises taxes on a narrow sector of the U.S. economy with the aim of funding a broad-based entitlement program, which is grossly unfair and burdensome to American businesses and consumers.
[I] vow[ed] to fight against socialized medicine….On healthcare, I agree with the President that we need to get costs under control…I can also say without hesitation, that the quality of healthcare in this county is second to none -- and sacrificing quality to achieve these necessary reforms is not acceptable. A single payer, government run healthcare system is the worst possible way to achieve this goal.
Related Laws and Rules
Backgrounders & Briefs
Marine Hospitals in the 18th Century
The Marine Hospital Act of 1798 was the federal government’s first foray into public medicine. The arguments against the policy sound awfully familiar.
The Work, Family and Equity Index: How Does the United States Measure Up?
The Project on Global Working Families is a study that measures worldwide social safety nets.
Resources
Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) is a progressive think tank that concentrates on social and economic policy, both domestic and international.
University of California-Berkeley Labor Center carries out research on labor and workplace-related issues.
Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity is a think tank devoted to food policy in the United States.
Institute for Women’s Policy Research is a prominent think tank that is largely focused on American women's issues. This covers everything from pay equity to welfare reform to domestic violence.
