The Implication\’s that caused Clinton\’s Health Care Plan to Fail
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This is what is expected from my professor. We need to synthesize why Clinton\’s Health Care plan was unsuccessful. Discuss the feature of the Clintons health care reform plan and provide reason why it failed and describe the influence of the various interest groups and governmental entities during the process — that is, the key players involved and other circumstances that shaped this policy-making effort. Also we have to consider these questions as well… 1) Take a position in support or opposition 2) Discuss the context of this legislation – name the expected demanders and suppliers 3) describe the expected interest groups and their specific arguments 4) describe the expected interplay between demanders and suppliers, interest groups and analyze the public policy environment.
Please remember to address the paragraph above and the questioned 1-4 as well.
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Clinton\’s Health Care plan
The Implications that caused Clinton’s Health Care Plan to Fail
Introduction
The road to healthcare reforms in the United States has had a long period of development. After the end of the World War II, almost every president in the country has supported or initiated some reforms in the healthcare sector. President Clinton was the first democrat to be elected after 12 years, and he proposed numerous healthcare reforms. Using a report drafted by controversial task force headed by First Lady Hillary Clinton, President Clinton delivered American Health Security Act of 1993 to the Congress (Stites & Harbison with Dunn, Written by Jerry W. Taylor, 2014.). Using a concept that was termed as a “managed competition”, American Health Security Act of 1993 proposed to deliver affordable healthcare plans to all the citizens. However, in many of the presidential healthcare reforms, there have been many controversies, so was Clinton’s healthcare reform that was opposed by the health insurance and healthcare industry.
A Brief Summary of Clinton’s Healthcare Proposal
Numerous public opinion surveys and electoral change were the major factors that set United States for healthcare reforms. After taking power, President Clinton outlined various healthcare reforms, which were intended to address the then high costs and disparity of healthcare coverage. The proposed healthcare reform would increase healthcare coverage through employer mandate and the federal government that would ensure that the citizens who did not afford insurance would get government subsidies. A cap on premiums would mitigate the high cost factor. These together with other healthcare reforms would not only make healthcare affordable and increase coverage, it would also have reduced the rate at which the government healthcare facilities accumulated liabilities. However, these reforms were not realized as they were not adopted into law.
Implications that Caused Clinton’s Healthcare Plan to Fail
Since President Clinton had a greater domination of both the House of Representatives and senate, it was expected that his healthcare reforms would be adopted. When the proposed healthcare plan was brought into the pubic light, it was evident that it did not meet the expectations of many citizens and members of the Congress (Brady & Kessler, 2011). Indeed the numerous public opinions that were conducted showed that most Americans were satisfied with the healthcare insurance coverage that was in place. Depending on the type of questions asked, majority of the citizens expressed satisfaction with the existing healthcare plans and did not see the need for the president’s new proposed plan (Brady & Kessler, 2011). Many reasons were given and together with the influence of the interest groups and other government shortcomings, the bill was defeated.
During his political career, President Clinton had relied heavily on first lady Hillary Clinton as one of his best advisors. When he took power, he appointed her as the head of the task force that was intended to create healthcare reforms. He knew that the first lady was passionate about the healthcare of over 60 million Americans, who were overwhelmed by high healthcare costs and less coverage. Yet the appointment of the first lady was his major failure in achieving his healthcare reforms (Charlottesville, 2011). In letting the first lady to be a major leader in policy and political power, it allowed many critics to attack her and the healthcare program, since they viewed it as a deviation from his predecessors.
The other major cause of failure of the healthcare program to be passed into was the failure of President Clinton’s administrators to educate the population on what the bill contained. Instead of explaining coherently to the public regarding the 1,342-page bill, which was complicated, the president relied on self-assurance, moral ethic and vogue to sell the bill (Marcellus, 2009). The industry key players asserted that the complexity of the bill contributed to its failure. In addition, they asserted that the bill relied more on partisanship and created fear and confusion from the public (Marcellus, 2009). In agreement to the fact, the first lady was quoted for having acknowledged that their efforts were misunderstood and that she believed that the facts provided in the bill would speak for themselves (Marcellus, 2009).
The failure of the administration to explain its policies created an open door for its opponents to articulate their interpretations the way they wanted. That was the time that the interest groups came into play and ran sponsored ads on the media with devastating attacks on the healthcare program. The major critics of the healthcare plan, the insurance industry, sponsored “Harry and Louise,” an advertisement that branded the healthcare plan as an attack on the freedom of choice of the individuals (Marcellus, 2009). Clinton\’s Health Care plan
The situation worsened and the accuracy of the program no longer made sense to the public. The Clintons relied on the advice of marketing consultants rather than delve into the truth about the contents of the healthcare bill. The huge misinformation produced devastating effects on the opinions of the American people. To show the extent of misinformation, some focus groups when asked about the plan, they showed great disapproval. However, when they were presented with the same plan disguised but explained to them, they rendered their approval (Marcellus, 2009). This showed how the interest groups had exploited the inability of the Clinton’s administration to define and coherently explain the facts to the public.
The failure of Clinton to put in place successfully the universal healthcare plan could be attributed to poor direction from the detailed healthcare policy (Graham & Wood, 2011). The healthcare policy provided unclear policy frameworks for some of its provisions. For instance, the Healthcare Security Act proposed a state run program for the disabled of all income categories. Analysts viewed this as a relaxation of the eligibility of the Medicaid nursing home benefit and tax credits for the elderly. In the views of these analysts, the act provided no comprehensive policy framework that provided a direction for the program to tackle problems of major concern in the United States (Graham & Wood, 2011).
The focus on the elderly as elucidated above let many to view the program as the one that had a narrow view of the healthcare problems in the United States. The program came at a time when there were many healthcare problems in the country and it was expected that the healthcare program that would be outlined then would be comprehensive and possess a wholistic view of the whole problems rather than attempt to present a narrow policy that focused on solving part of the problem. The Economist in its analysis in 2010 (Graham & Wood, 2011) asserted that the failure of the healthcare program as outlined by the administration of President Clinton was caused by “micro-managed” approach that the administration pursued.
In addition to its incomprehensive healthcare package, other policy measures led to mistrust of the public on the healthcare program. Upon its introduction, the tax package and the economic stimulus package was altered from the one that Clinton wanted and led to a feeling of skepticism in the ability of the executive arm of the government to execute any meaningful legislation towards the same case. That made the passage of the healthcare plan an impossible feat to be achieved. Moreover, like Obama who was riding under wave of public expectations prior his election as a president, Clinton’s healthcare reform failure could be attributed to lack of expansive and decisive direction and fears from the administration that a controversial healthcare proposal would have faced opposition from the Congress.
The Influence of Interest Groups on Failure of Clinton’s Healthcare Plan
The history of the healthcare programs in the United States is often a subject of public debate among many interest groups. The healthcare plan as proposed by President Clinton was no exception, as its failure was attributed to the actions of interest groups who played a part in public misinformation. The debates have often sparked a fragmentation among the interest groups in the society, a divide and conquer strategy that has often become an impediment to achievement of universal healthcare plan. A number of interest groups played key roles in the downfall of the healthcare plan proposed by President Bill Clinton.
Clinton\’s Health Care plan
The Insurance and Business Lobby Groups
The media and the healthcare insurance companies had a great role in influencing the public opinion against the proposed healthcare plan. In opposing the healthcare plan, the Health Insurance Association of American (HIAA) sponsored an ad termed as “Harry and Louise,” which criticized the proposed healthcare plan as intruding on the freedom of choice. Due to the influence of the insurance companies, there was a development of a feeling of discontent. A situation was created where men were pitched against men and the uninsured against the insured. The strength of the healthcare insurance companies in the United States makes any effort to create an affordable healthcare plan a difficult process (Wahl-Jorg, 2007).
The other interest groups that joined hands in defeating the proposed healthcare plan were the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), which represented small businesses as well as Health Insurance Association of American (HIAA) that represented insurers. They feared that if they backed the proposed healthcare plan, they would be forced to shoulder the employer mandate as highlighted in the program (Cutler & Gruber, 2001). Their counter arguments were that the proposed healthcare plan did not represent the views of the Americans.
Moreover, it was pointed that the major industry players were not involved in drafting the bill. There were numerous debates especially radio debates that were carried by the conservative radio talk hosts and insurance advertising that created lurid fears amongst the American population that the federal government, through the healthcare plan, would assume total control of the healthcare. Clinton\’s Health Care plan
Other Interest Groups
There were other lobbyists from various sectors of the economy, which sought to carry out campaigns against the proposed healthcare plan. For example, Anheuser-Busch offered its trucks, which had placards that carried the writings that urged Bud drinkers to dial 1-800-BEER-TAX (Krauss, 1993). On dialing the number, the drinkers were made to realize that the cost of beer would increase due to increased tax, in order to fund the healthcare plan. This had a negative impact in the view of the healthcare plan. It made such population to turn against the bill.
Similarly, IVAC Corporation that was based in San Diego, an intravenous pumps manufacturer, set up telephone bank, which its 20 employees called other healthcare workers. They urged them to write proposals to their representatives in order to urge them to oppose the proposed healthcare plan that limited hospitals from accessing medical technology. The lobbyist groups, instead of pursuing old tactics of “arm twisting” decided to employ the rather populist enterprise. In addition, campaigns were common also among the energy sectors, which used their massive advertisement budgets to carry out campaigns against the healthcare plan, terming it as proposing excessive taxation on energy products (Krauss, 1993).
Clinton\’s Health Care plan
Discussion Questions
The position adopted in regards to the healthcare plan as outlined by President Clinton is that of opposition. The major arguments that this paper highlighted together with the fact that the proposed bill did not involve major stakeholders, made it unrepresentative and it informed the position taken. Additionally, it would have been expected that the bill carried proper analysis on the implications of its various policies, inform relevant stakeholders, and incorporate their views. The major demanders of the bill ought to be all the American population and the suppliers were the various healthcare institutions under federal funding.
The interest groups are a representative of particular groups/class with similar interests. In healthcare industry, the interest groups include the healthcare insurance providers, public and other organizations that may be affected by specific policies as outlined in the healthcare program. The interest groups being affected directly or indirectly by the proposed healthcare policies have a case to present their concerns if they feel that the proposed policies infringe their rights. Similarly, if the proposed policies do not lead to any meaningful improvement in the existing healthcare framework, then they have a right to object the proposed policies in order to be revised. In order for a successful healthcare policy program, it must take into consideration the contributions of all the major stakeholders who include public, interest groups and the healthcare providers. However, there must be developed a good framework in which the public can be educated concerning any proposed healthcare polic………………………………The Implication\’s that caused Clinton\’s Health Care plan to Fail…………………………………………………………………….
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