A Timeline of the US Healthcare System

Theodore Roosevelt was the first president to talk about healthcare reform, then in 1948, Harry Truman made it his platform for the elections. In 1960 was the creation of two major reforms, Medicare and Medicaid, which some people called the socialism king of programs.

In the beginning of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the “healthcare system” was left in the hands of the states, which the states handed off to private and voluntary programs to deal with. In the presidential term of Teddy Roosevelt, 1901-1909, he felt that “no country could be strong whose people were sick and poor.” (Palmer 1999) He did however back health insurance as a whole. Roosevelt was not the one fighting for the health care though, there were outside forces that impacted health care. The American Association of Labor Legislation (AALL) led the campaign for health insurance. They drafted their first bill by 1915. This bill wanted to limit the coverage toward the working class and anyone who earned less than $1,200 a year including dependents. The American Medical Association (AMA) backed this bill because they felt the same way about coverage. The AMA did not speak for all doctors and those who opposed this backing spoke up. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) opposed the bill because they felt that it would weaken the unions and they wanted to maintain their strength. The private insurance

On July 30, 1965, Medicare was signed into law by then President Lyndon B. Johnson. The President declared “No longer will older Americans be denied the healing miracle of modern medicine (Johnson, 1965). The Medicare act was implemented to provide the older population of U.S. citizens and those with disabilities and end-stage renal disease with financial security, coverage, and access to healthcare. It’s a federal program that most families will eventually rely on. “As the single largest purchaser of medical services in the United States, Medicare is an important source of income for hospitals, physicians, home health agencies, and other medical care providers” (Oberlander p. 119).

In 1927, the Committee on the Costs of Medical Care was formed. These committees, which included health economists, physicians, and public health experts, researched the American health care environment and produced in 1932 a landmark report Medical Care for American People which revealed the significant discrepancy in costs, quality, and quantity of medical services in the United States. The primary concern is that health care systems do not provide sufficient services to satisfy the health care needs of Americans, especially the minorities. However, people do not have the financial stability to support their health care needs. Therefore, it was proposed to transform the system so that health care would be financed through insurance and taxation (Jost, 2012, p. 54). In fact the initiative was widely supported and the first insurance plans appeared.

• 1966-Medicare was implemented on July 1, serving more than 19 million individuals. Medicaid funding was available to states starting January 1, 1966; the program was phased -in by states over a several year period.

It called for compulsory national health insurance and a payroll tax. The bill faced large barriers within and outside of Congress. The US entered World War II in December 1941 and caused compulsory health insurance to become later entangled with the ideological climate of the Cold War. The AMA dominated the public debate and launched a massive advertising campaign against socialized medicine. (Starr Remedy and Reaction pg. 40) The AMA portrayed and convinced the public that defeating national health insurance was the way to preserve the “American way” of life and the government would run the sacred bond between a doctor and patient. The AMA’s view was also supported by pharmaceutical firms and insurance companies. After the bill was defeated, it led to the increase rise of private insurance. Private insurance began before the 1930s and spread during the Second World War due to wage freezes, companies would offer health benefits to workers. Coverage soared after the war when employees received health benefits through collective-bargaining agreements. (Starr Remedy and Reaction pg. 42) Unfortunately, private health benefits were not affordable for the poor, elderly and disabled to

Healthcare has always been an issue with presidents in the United States. They are always trying to reform or change how the healthcare system operates in our country. Many presidents try to tackle this issue but only a couple have been successful in shaping the health care system we have today. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson and Barack Obama have all been major players in the healthcare system.

The United States of America is the only major country that does not offer healthcare coverage as a right of citizenship. Most established (advanced) countries have a universal healthcare program, which means accessibility to every citizen. It is a system usually operates by the federal government, it has social rules and regulations and is financed through different new taxations. This issue had been discussed for years- during the Depression and World War II the United States had no funds to implement the universal healthcare. As an outcome, a privet division was established that did not provide healthcare to all the citizens. However, the government’s role of providing healthcare insurance developed as a regulatory form to ensure that the elderly and poor were able to receive healthcare.

True the United States health care system is unnecessarily fragmented because the health care system embodies both private and government insurance. The fragmented health care system in the United states as has been noted by many healthcare experts comes with various issues such health care disparities and high per capita health spending compared to other nations in the world. Nonetheless, the U.S. healthcare system is a system that is constantly evolving as patients are demanding for better care; and health care payers across the United States are demanding for enhanced cost containment initiatives from the healthcare organizations. To this end, in 1965, two notable governmental healthcare programs were launched, the aim was to make

Between the years of 1910 to now, healthcare in the United States has tremendously transformed, from modest techniques of home remedies, natural care and doctors with inadequate to no training, to a complex, scientific, technological, and more in-depth approach. Today, the quality of healthcare has implemented innovative practices to treat disease, a rigorous training for of doctors, technological advancements medical equipment, the rise of great institutions of medical training and healing, and the introduction of medical insurance. Governmental institutions, health care programs, drug regulations, and medical insurance also evolved during this period, including Medicare, Medicaid and Blue Cross Blue Shield to name a few. Most recently, the

This discussion paper will compare the American health care system to the German, Japanese and Canadian systems and describe the strengths and weakness of each of them.

The Post-War period was not the first time healthcare was on the American legislative agenda. Earlier on in 1916 after the New Deal policies, the American Association for Labor Legislation (AALL) had lobbied for a comprehensive form of health insurance, which was largely based off of the German model at the time which largely focused on employer contribution to insurance costs in addition to public contribution. The leaders of AALL felt that health insurance was vital for a productive labor force. With this belief, they aimed to not only just increase and enhance worker’s health, but also aimed to increase prevention measures. This meaning that with comprehensive health care available for individuals, the likelihood of treatment and prevention

Shortly after, the Kennedy Administration pursued a more modest form of healthcare coverage which entitled that health insurance coverage would be limiter to those 65 years of age and older. There was a lot of back and forth going and President Kennedy didn’t live to see the proposal’s chances through so it was passed to President Johnson.

The United States government has been considering health care reform since the 1930's. At that time, Franklin D. Roosevelt didn't press his ideas on Congress because he did not want to risk his other New Deal proposals. But other presidents, including Harry Truman in 1949 and Richard Nixon in 1971, have tried to introduce some type of health care reform, enjoying varying measures of success.

11/19/45     In a special message to Congress, President Truman proposed a comprehensive, prepaid medical insurance plan for all people through the Social Security system.