Who has the best shot at getting UHC done in the United States?

Which President had the best shot at getting UHC passed in the United States?

  • Theodore Roosevelt

    Votes: 6 18.2%
  • Franklin Roosevelt

    Votes: 6 18.2%
  • Harry Truman

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • John Kennedy

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Lyndon Johnson

    Votes: 5 15.2%
  • Richard Nixon

    Votes: 15 45.5%
  • Bill Clinton

    Votes: 1 3.0%
  • An ATL President has a better chance than any of the people listed (Please specify)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    33
Exactly as it says on the tin.

Which U.S. President had the best shot at getting some form of universal health insurance enacted in the United States? Public or private doesn't implicitly matter--the only requirement here being that every American has (a) access to health insurance or (b) is covered by some sort of health insurance plan.
 
Ah yes, CHIP. UHC torpedoed by Ted Kennedy. You can taste the irony.* It was probably the best the GOP could hope for other than the OTL system.

*Yes, I just badmouthed a Kennedy brother. :p
 
Here's an ATL offer from my TL "TID". RFK's plan, popularly known as Blue Chip. There are things here for everyone, and it was enacted into law in May 1970.

- Medicare Part D, prescription drugs, bulk purchase agreement.
- A non-contributory Medicare for children under 18 and pre/natal/post natal care for mothers
- An expansion of Medicaid, raising reimbursement levels and the Federal kick-in, establishing national standards of care and coverage.
- an opt-out program for adults who don't qualify for Medicaid, where they can choose between a Medicare public option and a voucher for a private plan.
- Federal malpractice insurance and caps on malpractice lawsuits
- A "play or pay" mandate on larger employers.
 
Teddy, maybe.

I'm not an expert on history at about the turn of the century, but I DO know that Teddy served at the height of the Progressive era.
 
The best possibility I see is a less progressive President in place of Franklin Roosevelt and along comes Huey Long. Or Long isn't shot... I voted for LBJ without thinking but with a more painful Depression, and with a populist like The Kingfish, a lot could happen...
 
How about requirement c) everyone can actually afford it? None of this passing a law requiring everybody to buy it nonsense either.

In living memory? I'd say Nixon, simply because the Republican Party wouldn't resist their own President as fiercely as they would a Kennedy, Slick Willy or Obama.

Instead of all this insurence stuff, which is going to drive up the cost of living one way or another, have hospitals become nonprofit organizations. Yeah, that'll still cost, but it will at least be only at cost.
 
If Roosevelt could avoid political backlash in the late 30s by trying something more subtle than court packing and not try the fool's errand of balancing the budget, he'd have all the political capital he would need to get it done. With the juggernaut of popularity he'd be at, the Southern wing of the Democrats wouldn't dare openly oppose anything he tried.
 
If Roosevelt could avoid political backlash in the late 30s by trying something more subtle than court packing and not try the fool's errand of balancing the budget, he'd have all the political capital he would need to get it done. With the juggernaut of popularity he'd be at, the Southern wing of the Democrats wouldn't dare openly oppose anything he tried.


Nothing wrong with trying to balance the budget. Perpetual debt is just asking for trouble. Yeah, I know, Great Depression: not the easist time to try.
 
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