The Clintonian Roots of Obamacare

By Scott Gottlieb, MD (original source National Affairs) 

Making one final pitch for his sweeping health-care plan, the president turned to the issue of cost. Making health insurance affordable, he told the primetime television audience, meant ensuring that “everybody is covered—and this is a very important thing—unless everybody is covered, we will never be able to fully put the brakes on health care inflation.”

In the president’s analysis, achieving universal coverage meant that the federal government had to compel consumers to purchase insurance and force businesses to offer it. “Some call it an employer mandate, but I think it’s the fairest way to achieve responsibility in the health care system,” the president said, defending the controversial proposal. “And it’s the easiest for ordinary Americans to understand, because it builds on what we already have and what already works for so many Americans.”

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