Nixoncare

Ted Kennedy was said to regret not making a health care deal with Nixon in 1973.  That assertion, however, really comes from a very thinly-sourced rumor, so who knows if it's true.  I doubt it.  That said, the Nixon healthcare reform proposal of 1973 is not that bad, especially considering the source.

Nixon's program featured three major categories:  (1)  Employee Health Insurance, (2)  Assisted Health Insurance, and (3)  Medicare.  Most people would continue to get health insurance through their employer who would have to provide health insurance for all full-times employees, though also assisted by the employee themselves in some kind of cost-sharing arrangement.  Nixon also proposed a few changes to Medicare.

The poor would be covered under Assisted Health Insurance which was "designed to cover everyone not offered coverage under Employee Health Insurance or Medicare, including the unemployed, the disabled, the self-employed, and those with low incomes."  Key graphs of Nixoncare:

Assisted Health Insurance would thus fill many of the gaps in our present health insurance system and would ensure that for the first time in our Nation's history, all Americans would have financial access to health protection regardless of income or circumstances.

A principal feature of Assisted Health Insurance is that it relates premiums and out-of-pocket expenses to the income of the person or family enrolled. Working families with incomes of up to $5,000, for instance, would pay no premiums at all. Deductibles, co-insurance, and maximum liability would all be pegged to income levels.

Assisted Health Insurance would replace State-run Medicaid for most services. Unlike Medicaid, where benefits vary in each State, this plan would establish uniform benefit and eligibility standards for all low-income persons. It would also eliminate artificial barriers to enrollment or access to health care.

Comments

[jbhintz]

Great. Richard Nixon now seems like a Voice of Reason. Is this a sign of the apocalypse?

[Hypatia]

Nixon was generally good in many areas of domestic policy. It was a different Republican Party back then, of course. I'm sure if Ted had had a crystal ball he would have cut a deal pronto - a missed opportunity, indeed.

[John Petty]

Before we give too much credit to Nixon--for anything!--we ought to keep in mind that the "zeitgeist" was much different then