March 24, 2017
Failing at health care: A presidential tradition
IHPI member Howard Markel, M.D., Ph.D., professor of medical history and pediatrics at U-M, recently published a political op-ed piece for CNN online regarding the storied history of the United States' President and the health care system.
An excerpt:
"The test of a first-rate intelligence," F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, "is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function." Maybe so. But that doesn't explain how so many Americans adore their Medicare but still express bitter hatred for government intervention in health care.
Most historians of national health care programs point to the year 1883 and credit Otto von Bismarck, the first Chancellor of Germany, with developing a policy wherein public monies and contributions from workers were pooled and used to provide health care and reimbursement for lost wages to workers who became ill or injured. By 1911, when Great Britain first implemented a program similar to Germany's, most major, developed European countries could boast health care policies that protected their citizens.
Not so the United States of America.
Follow the link below to read the full piece.
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