We're now debating a version of Nixon's 1971 health plan

From The Progressive Review

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

TOP THREE DEMOCRATS PUSH NIXON'S HEALTH PLAN THAT FAILED

DAVID U. HIMMELSTEIN & STEFFIE WOOLHANDLER IN NY TIMES - In 1971, President Nixon sought to forestall single-payer national health insurance by proposing an alternative. He wanted to combine a mandate, which would require that employers cover their workers, with a Medicaid-like program for poor families, which all Americans would be able to join by paying sliding-scale premiums based on their income.

Nixon's plan, though never passed, refuses to stay dead. Now Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama all propose Nixon-like reforms. Their plans resemble measures that were passed and then failed in several states over the past two decades.

Snip

The "mandate model" for reform rests on impeccable political logic: avoid challenging insurance firms' stranglehold on health care. But it is economic nonsense. The reliance on private insurers makes universal coverage unaffordable.

With the exception of Dennis Kucinich, the Democratic presidential hopefuls sidestep an inconvenient truth: only a single-payer system of national health care can save what we estimate is the $350 billion wasted annually on medical bureaucracy and redirect those funds to expanded coverage. Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Edwards and Mr. Obama tout cost savings through computerization and improved care management, but Congressional Budget Office studies have found no evidence for these claims.

And from a Washington Post user forum, this great question - 3 hours ago

Fairfax, Va.: Good Morning Mr. Dreier and Mr. Ganz, Paul Krugman in a NYT opinion piece today argues that achieving health reform is more difficult than under Nixon because of the expanded lobbying influence of the insurance industry and the polarization of politics. What is your take? Also, do you think passage of a health-care reform bill will improve President Obama's approval rating which have taken a dent during the health care debate?

washingtonpost.com: Missing Richard Nixon (The New York Times, Aug. 30)

Marshall Ganz: Good morning!

One reason that achieving real reform today is more challenging is the success of the conservative movement in demonizing government as an instrument for public good. Nixon, recall, proposed a minimum annual income, something that today would be decried as some form of socialism. With the Reagan presidency came "government as the problem" - not because it was the problem - but because it advanced the cause of civil rights, women';s rights, environmental protection, etc. President Obama has not only an opportunity, but the necessity of using his bully pulpit, proposals, and gift of public narrative to reeducate us as to the necessary positive role that we must use government to play if we are to advance our interests as a whole, as a nation, as a community able to "provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty". And, if we can all make health care reform happen -- like social security and Medicare - it will be the beginning of a process of rebuilidng our capacity to work together to advance our common interests.