Obama Clinton Reform Obama and Clinton Health

Obama Clinton Reform

Obama and Clinton Health Care Reform

The current state of healthcare in the United States represents a situation that is unique by international standards. When considering the average costs per citizen against the health outcomes that can be expected, the United States represents the most inefficient medical system in the world. The U.S. spends more than any other country per capita while providing its population with health outcomes that are generally estimated to be rated anywhere between twenty-fifth to thirty-third in the world. The fact that the system needs reform was debated by few. However, the types of reforms that were needed were a polarizing issue in the U.S. Both Democratic presidents Clinton and Obama have attempted to expand access to the healthcare system with only the later succeeding.

Before President Clinton there was a long line of Presidents who tried to address the needed healthcare reforms. However the Clinton proposal was arguably more dramatic than others before it in both its scope and attention. The episode began when Bill Clinton was elected in 1992, in part on the promise of fixing a "broken" health-care system and eight months after entering office, the president delivered a well-received speech before Congress in which he famously promised to deliver health security . . . that can never be taken away. (Donnelly & Rochefort, 2012)" To lead this effort the President appointed his wife Hillary to the Task Force on National Health Reform, a bold move signaling that this issue was of the highest personal, as well as political, importance.

It is argued that Obama benefited significantly from the lessons that Clinton's failure provided. The Health Security Act proposed by Clinton. After the failure of the Health Security Act a body of literature emerged from many different perspectives that was described as (Donnelly & Rochefort, 2012):

Scholars, former and current public policymakers, elected officials, journalists, and pundits all were involved, with some individuals playing more than a single role from the list. Perhaps never before has such a diverse and, at times, impassioned group -- a kind of "epistemic community" on steroids -- taken form to supply historical perspective on a public policy issue.

One of the themes that was produced by such studies was that the Clinton plan focused more on crafting an effective policy than on how the policy was perceived by the population and the media.