Articles:

May 1, 2008. 1994 All Over Again? Public Opinion and Health Care

The current moment in U.S. health care reform is eerily reminiscent of the lead-up to the 1992 election. Then, as now, the country was facing an economic downturn and had been engaged in a war in the Middle East that threatened to distract attention from domestic matters. There was also unusually broad agreement among Americans and the presidential candidates that health care arrangements needed reform — a negative consensus that still holds today.

Related Media Links:

April 30, 2008 -- Study: Public Opinion Isn't Advancing Health Reform (MPR)

 

April 2007. The Medicare Approach: Political Choice and American Institutions

The most significant health reform in American history was the passage of Medicare in 1965, but this was an accomplishment born of defeat. Medicare was designed and understood by its early promoters as an approach to health reform, not simply as a discrete program for a distinct target population. Although Medicare incrementalism has tended to be shunted aside when the opportunities for health reform are most promising, the final years of the Johnson administration reveal previously underappreciated efforts to expand Medicare eligibility to large new population groups and offer insights into the continuing potential of Medicare incrementalism in our own time.