A brief history of health care reform in the U.S.

1912 -- Former President Theodore Roosevelt campaigned on a national health insurance plan in his bid to be re-elected following Howard Taft's intervening term.  He lost.

1935 -- President Franklin Roosevelt favored creating national health insurance, but the Great Depression intervened.

1942 -- Wartime president Roosevelt instituted wage and price controls.   Since they couldn't offer higher wages, companies began offering health insurance to workers.

1945 -- President Harry Truman called on Congress to enact national health insurance.  It was denounced by the AMA as "socialized medicine" and went nowhere.

1960 -- President John Kennedy campaigned on health care reform but couldn't get it through Congress.

1965 -- President Lyndon Johnson was able to get Congress to pass Medicare and Medicaid.

1974 -- President Richard Nixon wanted to require employers to provide health insurance to workers backed by government subsidies.   Watergate intervened and nothing got passed.

1976 -- President Jimmy Carter pushed mandatory national health insurance;  but economic recession intervened. 

1986 -- President Ronald Reagen signed into law the COBRA plan, whereby employers let former workers stay on the company's health plan for 18 months. 

1988 -- Congress expanded Medicare to include prescription drug benefits.   But older Americans complained about the extra costs and Congress repealed the law.

1993 -- President Bill Clinton assigned Hillary Clinton to head up a task force to plan for universal health insurance.   It died in the senate, with opposition from business lobbyists and conservative Congress members from both parties.

1997 -- President Bill Clinton signed bipartisan legislation that created a state-federal program to provide children from low income families with coverage.

2003 -- President George W. Bush persuaded Congress to pass a prescription drug benefit program for older citizens.   It specifically forbid government pressure on drug companies for lower drug prices.

2010 -- With no Republican support, Congress passed President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act now known as Obamacare.

Nine presidents, six Democrats, three Republicans.   

Ralph