On November 19, 1945, only 7 months into his presidency, Harry S. Truman gave a speech to the United States Congress proposing a new national health care program. In his speech, Truman argued that the federal government should play a role in health care, saying "The health of American children, like their education, should be recognized as a definite public responsibility." One of the chief aims of President Truman's plan was to insure that all communities, regardless of their size or income level, had access to doctors and hospitals.
Harry S. Truman's health proposals finally came to Congress in the form of a Social Security expansion bill, co-sponsored in Congress by Democratic senators Robert Wagner (N.Y.) and James Murray (Mont.), along with Representative John Dingell (D.-Mich). For this reason, the bill was known popularly as the W-M-D bill. The American Medical Association (AMA) launched a spirited attack against the bill, capitalizing on fears of Communism in the public mind. The AMA characterized the bill as "socalized medicine", and in a forerunner to the rhetoric of the McCarthy era, called Truman White House staffers "followers of the Moscow party line".* Organized labor, the main public advocate of the bill, had lost much of it's goodwill from the American people in a series of unpopular strikes. Following the outbreak of the Korean War, President Truman was finally forced to abandon the W-M-D Bill. Although Harry S. Truman was not able to create the health program he desired, he was sucessful in publicizing the issue of health care in America. During his Presidency, the not-for-profit health insurance fund Blue Shield-Blue Cross grew from 28 million policies to over 61 million.**
Truman Library - November 19, 1945: Truman Proposes Health Program
Now is the time to push those boundaries once more. We have come so far in the debate on health care in this country, but now we must finally answer the call first issued by Truman, advanced by Johnson, and fought for by so many leaders and Americans throughout the last century. The time has come for universal health care in America. And I look forward to working with all of you to meet this challenge in the weeks and months to come. Thank you.
Barack Obama 2007
The Time Has Come for Universal Health Care | U.S. Senator Barack Obama
I am constantly amazed at what some may believe that the concept of "change" or for that matter "universal healthcare" is a new concept or has in someway come to the forefront of our thinking because our generation is so enlightened. The fact is there have been advocates for Universal health care in this nation for years as you can well see from Harry Truman , to Hillary Clinton, to Barack Obama it has been in the public debate for years. Why even Ronald Reagan had his views on Universal Healthcare,
GOVERNOR REAGAN: . . . "Now, again this statement that somehow I wanted to destroy it, and I just changed my tune, that I am for voluntary social security, which would mean the ruin of it, Mr. President, the voluntary thing that I suggested many years ago was that a young man, orphaned and raised by an aunt who died, his aunt was ineligible for social security insurance, because she was not his mother. And I suggested that if this was an insurance program, certainly the person whos paying in should be able to name his own beneficiaries. And thats the closest Ive ever come to anything voluntary with social security"
In conclusion this debate has raged for years and has always been the same, one side claims the need based on the number of uninsured and cost. The other claims the need base on the number of uninsured and costs. In the end the only people caught in the middle of this debate have been the people all the great names in history have been debating over.
Harry S. Truman's health proposals finally came to Congress in the form of a Social Security expansion bill, co-sponsored in Congress by Democratic senators Robert Wagner (N.Y.) and James Murray (Mont.), along with Representative John Dingell (D.-Mich). For this reason, the bill was known popularly as the W-M-D bill. The American Medical Association (AMA) launched a spirited attack against the bill, capitalizing on fears of Communism in the public mind. The AMA characterized the bill as "socalized medicine", and in a forerunner to the rhetoric of the McCarthy era, called Truman White House staffers "followers of the Moscow party line".* Organized labor, the main public advocate of the bill, had lost much of it's goodwill from the American people in a series of unpopular strikes. Following the outbreak of the Korean War, President Truman was finally forced to abandon the W-M-D Bill. Although Harry S. Truman was not able to create the health program he desired, he was sucessful in publicizing the issue of health care in America. During his Presidency, the not-for-profit health insurance fund Blue Shield-Blue Cross grew from 28 million policies to over 61 million.**
Truman Library - November 19, 1945: Truman Proposes Health Program
Now is the time to push those boundaries once more. We have come so far in the debate on health care in this country, but now we must finally answer the call first issued by Truman, advanced by Johnson, and fought for by so many leaders and Americans throughout the last century. The time has come for universal health care in America. And I look forward to working with all of you to meet this challenge in the weeks and months to come. Thank you.
Barack Obama 2007
The Time Has Come for Universal Health Care | U.S. Senator Barack Obama
I am constantly amazed at what some may believe that the concept of "change" or for that matter "universal healthcare" is a new concept or has in someway come to the forefront of our thinking because our generation is so enlightened. The fact is there have been advocates for Universal health care in this nation for years as you can well see from Harry Truman , to Hillary Clinton, to Barack Obama it has been in the public debate for years. Why even Ronald Reagan had his views on Universal Healthcare,
GOVERNOR REAGAN: . . . "Now, again this statement that somehow I wanted to destroy it, and I just changed my tune, that I am for voluntary social security, which would mean the ruin of it, Mr. President, the voluntary thing that I suggested many years ago was that a young man, orphaned and raised by an aunt who died, his aunt was ineligible for social security insurance, because she was not his mother. And I suggested that if this was an insurance program, certainly the person whos paying in should be able to name his own beneficiaries. And thats the closest Ive ever come to anything voluntary with social security"
In conclusion this debate has raged for years and has always been the same, one side claims the need based on the number of uninsured and cost. The other claims the need base on the number of uninsured and costs. In the end the only people caught in the middle of this debate have been the people all the great names in history have been debating over.
