In 1993, the administration of President Bill Clinton offered a healthcare reform plan, which was mainly associated with the Hillary Rodham Clinton First Lady of the United States, who was responsible for the group that devised the plan. In September 1993, the president gave a major speech on health care in the US Congress, where he introduced the parts of the healthcare reform, including a mandate for employers, which forced them to cover health insurance for all of the employees.
Similarly, during the 2008 presidential elections, Health Care Reform was one of the main topics in political debates. Obama was one of the candidates, and he said it would be one of his 4 top concerns if he would become a president. In 2009, he was elected and presented the Affordable Care Act. Affordable Care Act, which is also known as Obamacare, is a health care plan significant advantage of which was its affordability and accessibility for lower-income families in America.
Rhetoric and methods of Obama’s healthcare plan proposal were similar to the one that Clinton had. They both gave a speech during the US Congress joint session, and both of them had trouble with public support. However, Obama’s reform is believed to be far more successful than “Hillarycare” for three major points, which are insurance industry reform, expansion of coverage and the “triple aim” of improved access, improved outcomes, and reduced costs of care, the last of which will take the most time to evolve. Also, according to Rudnicki et.al.(2016), the new healthcare plan kept in mind the mistakes from the past reforms and tried to work on their program through learning from them (p.353).
While discussing significant similarities and differences of these healthcare plans proposed by two different presidents in two different timelines, it is essential to consider the topic of mandatory coverage. It was the central point in Clinton’s “Hillarycare” and made the healthcare insurance compulsory for all. According to Roy (2016), it forced employers to pay 80 percent of the health insurance of their employees (p.2). However, Obama was in opposition to an individual mandate proposed by Clinton. On the other side, President Obama required healthcare for all children. Obama’s views on this issue are still not particular.
Another significant difference is government involvement in the health industry. In Clinton’s plan government had total control over healthcare and close relationship in this industry. However, in Obama’s plan, democrats allow private insurances. According to Senate Hearing(2016), plan known as HELP includes an option, where private insurance companies will be allowed to compete with the government insurance plans (p.571). Obama’s plan reduced the ineffectiveness of the existing healthcare system by reducing long-term expenses. These expenses included Medicare and Medicaid reductions, tax-free health benefits reduction, and “sin taxes,” which included failed taxes on soda and successful taxes on cigarettes.
Healthcare insurance is still a debatable issue, which has many aspects to include or exclude. When analyzing Hillarycare, Amadeo (2019) pointed out a few pitfalls that prevented the plan from becoming successful. Doctors were repelled by the possibility of losing control over pricing, care, and treatment. They feared that insurance companies would expand their leverage further and dictate what is covered and what is not. While Obamacare relied on Obamacare taxes, Hillarycare was supposed to be funded by deficit spending, which concerned Congress. Lastly, Hillarycare was not exactly popular with Americans, especially, labor unions that were still dissatisfied with President signing NAFTA. Despite all the aberrations and the eventual failure, the project was a historical event that set a precedent for a healthcare reform.
References
Amadeo, K. (2019). Hillarycare, the Health Security Act of 1993. Web.
ESSA implementation in states and school districts: Perspectives from education leaders. Hearing of the Committee on health, education, labor, and pensions, United States Senate, one hundred fourteenth Congress, second session on examining Every Student Succeeds Act Implementation in states and school districts, Focusing on perspectives from education leaders (February 23, 2016). Senate Hearing 114-731. (2017). Web.
Roy, A. (2016). What Bill Clinton didn’t tell you: In 2008, Hillarycare was just as ‘crazy’ as Obamacare. Web.
Rudnicki, M., Armstrong, J. H., Clark, C., Marcus, S. G., Sacks, L., Moser, A. J., & Reid- Lombardo, K. (2016). Expected and unexpected consequences of the Affordable Care Act: The impact on patients and surgeons–pro and con arguments. Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery, 20(2), 351–360. Web.