Health Care Reform Timeline

1934 Nov 14 Franklin D. Roosevelt Begins Trying to Reform Public Health
On November 14, 1934, taking note of the problem of “economic loss due to sickness,” which he characterized as “a very serious problem for many families with and without incomes” (and whi...
1961 Ronald Reagan Speaks Out Against Socialized Medicine
Ronald Reagan Speaks Out Against Socialized Medicine is a 1961 LP recorded by Ronald Reagan. In this 11-minute recording, Reagan "criticized Social Security for supplanting private saving...
1965 Jul 30 President Lyndon B. Johnson Signs The Social Security Act of 1965 into Law, Creating Medicare
While President Lyndon B. Johnson was responsible for signing the bill, there were many others involved in drafting the final bill that was introduced to the United States Congress in Mar...
1986 Apr 7 Ronald Reagan Signs the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) Into Law
The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, or COBRA, is a law passed by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Reagan that, among other things, mandates an insurance p...
1994 Sep 26 Bill Clinton's Universal Health Care Initiative fails in Congress
One of the most prominent items on Clinton's legislative agenda was the result of a taskforce headed by Hillary Clinton, which was a health care reform plan aimed at achieving universal c...
1996 Aug 21 Major Health Care Bill, Sponsored by Edward Kennedy and Nancy Kassebaum, is Signed into Law
"The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act shows what happens as Sen. Kassebaum said and Sen. Kennedy said when we work together, when we cross party lines and put the intere..." —President Bill Clinton
2009 Feb 24 President Barack Obama's Address to the Joint Session of Congress
SPEECH - PART 1 Madame Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, and the First Lady of the United States: I’ve come here tonight not only to address the distinguished men and...
2009 Jun 15 President Obama speaks to doctors at AMA Annual Meeting
In a speech before the American Medical Association today, President Obama pushed his health-reform agenda, defending his push for a public health-insurance option and speaking in favor o...
2009 Jun 20 Pharmaceutical Industry Agrees to Spend $80 Billion (US) Improving Drug Benefits for Seniors on Medicare
The pharmaceutical industry agreed Saturday to spend $80 billion over the next decade improving drug benefits for seniors on Medicare and defraying the cost of President Barack Obama's he...
2009 Jul 25 President Obama Holds Town Hall Meeting in Ohio to Discuss Health Care Reform
Mr. Obama plans a primetime news conference on health care Wednesday night, and Thursday he will take Air Force One to Cleveland. He’ll take a private tour of the Cleveland Clinic—closed ...
2009 Aug 1 Representative Lloyd Doggett Mobbed by Anti-Health Care Reform Protesters in Austin
In Austin on Saturday, a throng of protesters enveloped Representative Lloyd Doggett, Democrat of Texas, at a supermarket where he was trying to meet constituents. They carried signs that...
2009 Aug 2 Senator Arlen Spector and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius are Heckled at Health Care Reform Event
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Sen. Arlen Specter got a preview Sunday of the tough sell lawmakers will face over health care as audience members booed and jeer...
2009 Aug 3 Poster of Obama as Heath Ledger's Joker Are Spotted Around Los Angeles Area
President Obama's been called a lot of things -- but this is probably the first time any campaign has tried to peg him as flat-out creepy. A slew of posters have been spotted througho...
2009 Aug 4 AARP Townhall Meeting to Discuss Health Care Reform is Derailed by Protesters
Another video making the rounds is of a town hall in Dallas organized by the AARP, a non-partisan special interest group. The video cuts between shots of exasperated organizers and their ...
2009 Aug 6 Fight Breaks Out at Town Hall Meeting in St. Louis to Discuss Health Care
At town hall meetings in Tampa, Detroit, and St. Louis yesterday -- chaos. A forum on aging sponsored by Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-Mo., resulted in protests and violence and six arrests --...
2009 Aug 6 Representative John Dingell Addresses Concerns Over Health Care Reform at Town Hall Meeting
Here's one town hall where the member of Congress is likely to give as much as he gets. Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.), the longest serving member of the House — and one of the toughest c...
2009 Aug 7 Sarah Palin Writes "Death Panels" Comment on Facebook
When we last heard from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin she was -- not without some justification -- beseeching some members of the media to "quit making things up." But in a post on he...
2009 Aug 11 President Obama Holds Town Hall Meeting in New Hampshire to Discuss Health Care Reform
They lined up on both sides of the road to Portsmouth High School -- several hundred opponents, fairly evenly divided, for and against health care reform. The common denominator was volum...
2009 Aug 11 Representative Susan Davis Holds Town Hall in San Diego to Discuss Health Care Reform
Hundreds of people gathered Tuesday night at a town-hall meeting on health care reform that was attended by Democratic Congresswoman Susan Davis. The doors opened to the public at 5:30...
2009 Aug 11 Senator Arlen Spector Presides Over Unruly Town Hall Meeting
More than 1,000 people showed up here Tuesday morning in this largely Republican town in central Pennsylvania for a town-hall-style meeting with Senator Arlen Specter, though the auditori...
2009 Aug 14 Florida Police Question Teenager about "Obama Joker" Poster
Police in Florida have questioned a teenager who admitted to hanging dozens of posters depicting President Obama as the Joker, and suggested that the prank could be part of a nationwide c...
2009 Aug 14 President Obama Holds Town Hall Meeting in Montana to Discuss Health Care Reform
President Barack Obama brought his town hall tour to Montana on Friday, talking about health care reform in a state where residents pride themselves on their independence and many are ske...
2009 Aug 15 President Obama Holds Town Hall Meeting in Colorado to Discuss Health Care Reform
President Obama aimed to lower the temperature of the health-reform debate in Colorado by appearing in person Saturday in Grand Junction and delivering a speech that framed health reform ...
2009 Aug 15 President Obama Suggests that Public Option Could be Dropped from Health Care Reform
The White House, facing increasing skepticism over President Obama’s call for a public insurance plan to compete with the private sector, signaled Sunday that it was willing to compromise...
2009 Aug 17 Numerous Heavily-Armed Protesters Attend Obama Speech at Veterans of Foreign Wars Event
About a dozen people carrying guns, including one with a military-style rifle, milled among protesters outside the convention center where President Barack Obama was giving a speech Monda...
2009 Aug 18 Firas Alkhateeb Identified as Creator of 'Obama Joker' Image
A 20-year-old college history major of Palestinian descent who supported Rep. Dennis Kucinich's presidential candidacy is the anonymous artist who turned a Time magazine cover photo of Ba...
2009 Aug 18 White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs Stresses that White House Still Prefers Public Option in Health Care Debate
Gibbs denounced reports that the administration may drop its support for a publicly funded insurance option because of intense opposition. He attributed the reports to a media "overreacti...
2009 Aug 20 Representative Barney Frank Criticizes a Protester for Comparing Obama to Hitler
A town hall session held by Representative Barney Frank has joined the pantheon of straight-to-video moments from the rowdy face-offs on health care this month. But instead of a critic...
2009 Aug 21 Cheryle Jackson supports public insurance option for health care reform
Illinois U.S. Senate candidate Cheryle Jackson today said that a public insurance option is absolutely critical to achieve the dual goals of containing costs and expanding access to quali...
2009 Aug 24
2:00PM
 Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) Tells a Crying Woman That "Government Is Not The Answer" To Healthcare Woes
A woman sobbingly relates her sad story of health insurance companies dicking her around and Tom Coburn, ever the compassionate conservative, tows the party line that 'government is not t...
2009 Sep 2 Democratic Sources Say President Obama to Give Speech on Health Care Reform to Joint Session of Congress on September 9
President Obama will address the contentious issue of health-care reform in a speech to a joint session of Congress on September 9, multiple Democratic sources said Wednesday. President ...
2009 Sep 2 Man's Fingertip Bitten Off at Rally for Health-Care Reform
One of a national series of rallies for health-care reform took a violent turn Wednesday night when, according to authorities in Thousand Oaks, Calif., an unidentified man bit off the tip...
2009 Sep 3 Vice President Biden Says Prosects of Health-Care Reform This Year are High
But the similarities between the stimulus package and health care reform go deeper. As it turns out, the two policy goals are interlinked. In his speech today, Biden made sure to mention ...
2009 Sep 5 President Obama Speaks to Group of Doctors from all 50 States on Health Care Reform Plan
President Obama is continuing his push for healthcare reform. He told a group of doctors from all 50 states that the current healthcare system is broken and needs to be fixed. He pointed ...
2009 Sep 9 President Obama Lays Out Plan for Health-Care Reform in Speech to Joint Session of Congress on
On Wednesday night, reeling from the angry if ill-informed outbursts at town hall meetings and concerned about his slipping poll numbers, the president finally found his voice. His speech...
2009 Sep 12 Opponents of Health-Care Reform March on Washington
"OBAMA WE HAVE WAKEN UP [sic] TO YOUR EVIL PLANS" —A Protester's Sign
2009 Sep 12 President Obama Speaks at Rally on Health-Care Reform
Thousands of roaring supporters turned out Saturday to rally behind President Obama’s call to overhaul the nation’s health care system, packing a basketball arena here as the president wa...
2009 Sep 16 Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus Releases His Health Care Proposal
At first glance, the mark comes across as a victory for the private insurance industry, which is why it was promptly attacked as a sell-out by liberal pundits. But the health insurance...
2009 Sep 20 President Obama Pushes Health Care Reform on Talk Shows on Five Different Television Networks
President Obama said that he did not promise too much in terms of health care legislation and continued to defend his plan during a Friday taping of "Face the Nation" at the White House. ...
2009 Sep 22 Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus Proposes Changes to Health Care Bill in Attempt to Gain Support
Reporting from Washington - In a bid to attract liberals and unify Democrats on his healthcare overhaul bill, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) today proposed to boos...
2009 Sep 29 Senate Finance Committee Rejects Two Democratic Proposals for a Public Option in Health Care Reform Debate
After an intense debate that captured the essence of the national struggle over health care, a pivotal Senate committee on Tuesday rejected two Democratic proposals to create a government...
2009 Oct 7 California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Joins Growing List of Republicans Pledging Support for Health Care Overhaul
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today issued the following statement urging the passage of health care reform at the national level: “As Governor, I have made significant efforts to ad...
2009 Oct 12 U.S. Insurance Industry Releases Report Predicting $4,000 Increase in Yearly Premiums Under Proposed Legislation
"This is a self-serving analysis from the insurance industry, one of the major opponents of health insurance reform," White House spokesman Reid Cherlin said. "It comes on the eve of a vo...
2009 Oct 13 Senate Finance Committee Approves Joint Health Care Bill
Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee, with the vote of a lone Republican, approved Chairman Max Baucus' $829 billion health care bill 14-9, kicking off what's expected to be a long a...
2009 Oct 26 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Announces Support for Government-Run Health-Care Option
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid will announce his support for establishing a government-run health-insurance program that would allow individual states to opt out of the plan, a Democ...
2009 Nov 5 Students Stage Sit-in at Senator Joe Lieberman's Office to Protest his Accepting Campaign Contributions from Health Care Industry
At roughly 10:15am, nine students, along with other protesters, including some seniors, were arrested for staging a sit-in at Senator Lieberman’s Washington DC office. The protesters wer...
2009 Nov 7 Health Care Reform Bill Passes the House
The House passed its version of health care reform late Saturday night and by early Sunday morning, there were major warning signs about the upcoming Senate battle, even after President O...
2009 Nov 21 US Senate Votes to Move Ahead with Health-Care Reform Bill
Senate Democrats managed to push health care reform legislation past a key hurdle on Saturday night, with a cloture vote that will lead to a debate on the Senate floor later this month, t...
2009 Dec 3 Senate Vote Supports Amendment to Support Access to Preventative Healthcare for Women
The U.S. Senate backed a plan on Thursday to make it easier for women to get preventive health services such as mammograms as it cast its first votes on a sweeping healthcare overhaul. ...
2009 Dec 8 Senate Democrats Drop Public Option from Health Care Proposal
The compromise scraps the bill's current version of a government-run health-insurance plan in favor of a more limited proposal that would empower the government's Office of Personnel Man...