Hillary vs. Barack on Health Care

Putting the First Lady in charge of health care reform in 1993 was a big mistake and set the stage for a Republican resurgence at the mid-term elections. It is probably never wise to place such a hot-button issue into the hands of the spouse of the president of the United States, for it is limiting to the latter's Cabinet and advisers, and makes it quite challenging to oppose whatever type of reform the bed partner would be espousing. Furthermore, it is rather distracting--especially when there are equally important issues with which to deal.

Hillary's plan was quite basic and progressive: develop a National Health Board to oversee the health care industry and improve access to quality health care for most people. However, the prospect of increased government restrictive involvement and monitoring of the health care system simply put conservatives in an uproar as well as sparked the creative development of the "Harry and Louise" commercials. Perceptions that the Clinton National Health Reform Bill, if passed, would levy higher taxes and seemingly more bureaucracy upon the average consumer, employee, or citizen really killed the bill and made room for a Republican takeover. Republicans were not the only ones criticizing the plan; major Democratic Congresspersons were outspoken against Clinton's health care reform initiative--some to the right and some to the left.

The defeat of Clinton's national health care campaign was such a tragedy that the issue did not resurface with some locomotive steam until the presidential race of 2008 and the speedy ascendancy of Barack Obama. During the first few months of his presidency, Obama talked strongly for health reform without really articulating specifically what he was seeking. The initial support for a bill that included a "public option" soon waned after sustained criticism from moderates and the Right. Obama never took up the mantle of a single-payer plan, because such a position would have erroneously been positively associated with the 1993 Clinton Plan. However, only people to the left of Hillary advocated such a position.

Whereas Hillary vehemently attacked the health insurance industry, Barack has been more conciliatory and interested in courting the support from across the political party lines--even if it means considerable compromise. This enervation of his strong campaign voice for health reform could clearly be seen in his importunately pleading first State of the Union Address. During the course of his first presidential year, the Harry and Louise ads resurfaced and the cacophony of Tea Party gatherings parlayed people's fears of the complicated proposals into more national media visibility.

The approach of both Hillary and Barack can be paralleled as to ways not to prosecute national health care reform. The former was too blatant and condescending; the latter has been too mealy-mouthed and consciously sycophantic. In a very real sense, at least symbolically, the death of Senator Edward Kennedy, a consistent advocate for health care reform, spelled the fastening of the window of opportunity afforded to the new president during his honeymoon.

Will we get a bona fide national health care reform legislation during the Obama Administration with at least a public option, if not a single-payer system? Not on your or my life! And that's about the size of it: our lives are cheapened and jeopardized by the failure.