The first
federal healthcare proposal dates back to 1854 when congress passed a bill that
would fund asylums for the insane. The
bill was vetoed by President Franklin Peirce as he felt it was not the federal
government’s place to engage itself in social welfare.
In 1912 Theodore Roosevelt, campaigned to establish national
health insurance system modeled after the German program. The idea of national health insurance never
grew legs and by the time the great depression rolled around, the idea simply
became unaffordable.
The next attempt at national healthcare came in 1935 when President Franklin Roosevelt attempted to include compulsory healthcare insurance along with social security. Pushback from the American Medical Association, who strongly opposed any government run healthcare system, caused Roosevelt to abandon the healthcare aspect of his plan and to stay focused on social security.
In the early 1940’s, in an effort to attract workers, many businesses began to offer different benefits including private health care thus making healthcare a common “benefit”.
President Truman took a swing at national healthcare in 1945 but it was again denounced by the American Medical Association as being socialized medicine and never made it through congress.
During the Kennedy presidency, the president tried to create a federal health care entitlement program for the elderly but was unsuccessful in doing so. It was not until President Johnson’s term in office that this goal was finally achieved by the adoption of two of the largest federal entitlement programs into law, Medicare and Medicaid. The fiscal ramifications of healthcare entitlements were immediate and highly unpopular.
President Nixon pushed for a mandate that would require all employers to provide healthcare insurance to their employees. Nixon also wanted to create subsidize so that individuals could purchase healthcare insurance on the private market place however, President Nixon got caught up in a little scandal that took his attention away from healthcare. At the same time Senator Ted Kennedy began what would become a lifelong push for a single payer universal healthcare plan.
When President Ford arrived in office, the economy was in steep decline and inflation on the rise. The President did not have the stomach for new government spending in the midst of economic woes and vowed to veto any healthcare bill that crossed his desk.
Just a few years later it was President Carter’s turn to take a stab at national healthcare but due to the condition of the economy, Republican’s wanted no part of a new federalized entitlement.
Then in 1988 President Regan passed the bi-partisan Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act (MCCA) only to have it repealed a year and a half later. The parties over-extended themselves and tried to do too much too quick and those paying for the MCCA revolted.
In 1993 Bill Clinton took his shot at instituting a national healthcare system with a little thing they called HillaryCare. HillaryCare was very far reaching and came under opposition from both republicans as well as from inside the Democratic Party.
A few years later in 1997, Clinton had given up on HillaryCare but had great success with the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP or CHIP) which filled an important gap between families whose income was modest but too high to qualify for Medicaid. CHIP was passed with bi-partisan support.
In 2003 the Bush administration put forth the largest expansion to healthcare entitlement since 1965 with Medicare Part D. Meeting significant opposition from liberal democrats who essentially said that republicans were unable to put fourth any degree of successful reform, the bill eventually gained bi-partisan support and was passed into law.
Fast forward to Hillary Clinton’s run for the Democratic Party nomination. HillaryCare was again introduced and was a key part of her platform. Hillary lost the nomination to then Senator Obama in part due to her aggressive plan for healthcare reform as oppose to Senator Obama’s seemingly milder stance on healthcare reform (at the time).
This brings us to the election of President Obama which came with sweeping changes to the nation’s healthcare insurance system under what would come to be known as ObamaCare.
Heavy mandates were placed on both individuals and employers to have and provide healthcare insurance or pay a fine (tax). There are a number of highly controversial elements in the law, many of which President Obama opposed of himself during his run against Hillary Clinton however, changes to the healthcare plan were necessary to ensure a clean vote and to avoid filibuster.
President Obama’s push to fundamentally change the nation’s healthcare system came at a time when the nation was in its deepest recession since the Great Depression and is littered with numerous new taxes and revenue streams to pay for its massive price tag. Passed on a 100% partisan vote, ObamaCare has been met with strong opposition from the small business owners, republican law makers and the majority of the American people.
The next attempt at national healthcare came in 1935 when President Franklin Roosevelt attempted to include compulsory healthcare insurance along with social security. Pushback from the American Medical Association, who strongly opposed any government run healthcare system, caused Roosevelt to abandon the healthcare aspect of his plan and to stay focused on social security.
In the early 1940’s, in an effort to attract workers, many businesses began to offer different benefits including private health care thus making healthcare a common “benefit”.
President Truman took a swing at national healthcare in 1945 but it was again denounced by the American Medical Association as being socialized medicine and never made it through congress.
During the Kennedy presidency, the president tried to create a federal health care entitlement program for the elderly but was unsuccessful in doing so. It was not until President Johnson’s term in office that this goal was finally achieved by the adoption of two of the largest federal entitlement programs into law, Medicare and Medicaid. The fiscal ramifications of healthcare entitlements were immediate and highly unpopular.
President Nixon pushed for a mandate that would require all employers to provide healthcare insurance to their employees. Nixon also wanted to create subsidize so that individuals could purchase healthcare insurance on the private market place however, President Nixon got caught up in a little scandal that took his attention away from healthcare. At the same time Senator Ted Kennedy began what would become a lifelong push for a single payer universal healthcare plan.
When President Ford arrived in office, the economy was in steep decline and inflation on the rise. The President did not have the stomach for new government spending in the midst of economic woes and vowed to veto any healthcare bill that crossed his desk.
Just a few years later it was President Carter’s turn to take a stab at national healthcare but due to the condition of the economy, Republican’s wanted no part of a new federalized entitlement.
Then in 1988 President Regan passed the bi-partisan Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act (MCCA) only to have it repealed a year and a half later. The parties over-extended themselves and tried to do too much too quick and those paying for the MCCA revolted.
In 1993 Bill Clinton took his shot at instituting a national healthcare system with a little thing they called HillaryCare. HillaryCare was very far reaching and came under opposition from both republicans as well as from inside the Democratic Party.
A few years later in 1997, Clinton had given up on HillaryCare but had great success with the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP or CHIP) which filled an important gap between families whose income was modest but too high to qualify for Medicaid. CHIP was passed with bi-partisan support.
In 2003 the Bush administration put forth the largest expansion to healthcare entitlement since 1965 with Medicare Part D. Meeting significant opposition from liberal democrats who essentially said that republicans were unable to put fourth any degree of successful reform, the bill eventually gained bi-partisan support and was passed into law.
Fast forward to Hillary Clinton’s run for the Democratic Party nomination. HillaryCare was again introduced and was a key part of her platform. Hillary lost the nomination to then Senator Obama in part due to her aggressive plan for healthcare reform as oppose to Senator Obama’s seemingly milder stance on healthcare reform (at the time).
This brings us to the election of President Obama which came with sweeping changes to the nation’s healthcare insurance system under what would come to be known as ObamaCare.
Heavy mandates were placed on both individuals and employers to have and provide healthcare insurance or pay a fine (tax). There are a number of highly controversial elements in the law, many of which President Obama opposed of himself during his run against Hillary Clinton however, changes to the healthcare plan were necessary to ensure a clean vote and to avoid filibuster.
President Obama’s push to fundamentally change the nation’s healthcare system came at a time when the nation was in its deepest recession since the Great Depression and is littered with numerous new taxes and revenue streams to pay for its massive price tag. Passed on a 100% partisan vote, ObamaCare has been met with strong opposition from the small business owners, republican law makers and the majority of the American people.
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