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
A Government agency proposes to: Collect the tax. Control the money. Set the rules. Determine the services. Direct doctor and patient participation. Dominate every citizen’s medical affairs.
[Write to your congressional representative against the health care reform proposal or] we will awake to find that we have socialism.
I don't have time to beat around the bush. The health-care plan as proposed by Mrs. Clinton is socialism. There's no soft way to peddle it. There is not other way to describe it.
[The Republican plan will] make sure we bring down the cost of health care for all Americans and that ensures affordable access for all Americans and is pro-life because it will not put seniors in a position of being put to death by their government.
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.
