Health Care History Lesson
I’ll be closely watching today’s expected health care vote in Washington. Frankly, I don’t think it will be as bad as its critics say it will, nor the panacea proponents want it to be. However, I do think the history behind all this is fascinating. The New York Times has put together an interactive chart on the history of health care reform. Looking at old articles, all I can say is that the more things change, the more they stay exactly the same.
1912 – Teddy Roosevelt campaigns on national health insurance as part of his platform for President.
1929 – Baylor Hospital in Dallas creates what’s considered the first modern insurance program.
1931 – The first HMO is invented as a way to keep costs down for a farmers co-op.
1932 – The Wilbur Commission calls for “group insurance” as a way to keep costs under control. The American Medical Association calls it “socialism”.
1938 – Early insurance plans offer “pre-paid” deals but leave out the elderly and unemployed.
1945 – Harry Truman calls for compulsory universal coverage and more hospital construction. AMA calls is socialized medicine.
1946 – Congress passes Hill-Burton Act to expand hospitals into rural areas. It also lays groundwork for most of today’s insurance regulation.
1949 – U.S. Supreme Court upholds a National Labor Relations Board ruling that health benefits can be part of collective bargaining.
1954 – IRS exempts employee benefits like health insurance from taxation.
1962 – John F. Kennedy proposes medical benefits for social security recipients. Plan stalls in Congress.
1965 – Medicaid and Medicare are created.
1968 – With more Americans insured health care costs begin to skyrocket.
1971 – Richard Nixon and Ted Kennedy offer up competing health care plans. Nixon plan would mandate employers provide insurance, but use private companies. Kennedy’s plan would create a single-payer system.
1973 – Nixon signs bill creating HMO’s as a way to control health care costs.
1974 – Congress creates Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) exempting large employers who self-insure from state regulations.
1976 – Jimmy Carter campaigns on national health insurance.
1986 – Congress passes law requiring hospitals to treat and stabilize all emergency room patients. It also creates COBRA, which allows employees to keep their health insurance after losing their jobs for up to 18 months.
1988 – Congress medical Catastrophic Care Act to protect seniors from financial ruin to health care costs. Law repealed in 1989.
1993 – Bill Clinton introduces health care reform.
1994 – Clinton health care reform fails.
1996 – Congress passes Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act which protects people in group insurance plans from being discriminated against due to pre-existing conditions.
2002 – Health care costs continue to rise and employers pass those burdens on to employees.
2003 – George W. Bush expands Medicare to cover prescription drugs.
2004 – Health care spending tops $2 trillion, becomes 16% of the national economy.
2008 – You know where we are now.
Like I said, regardless of the outcome, this entire process has been fascinating to watch, especially for the last 100 years.
