– Sen. Ted Kennedy on National Health Care – May 22, 1974 –
The debate over affordable Health Care has been groaning on for decades, it makes for great soundbites, and sometimes it gets votes. But the seemingly endless haggle over a National Health Plan never quite went anywhere.
In 1974 President Nixon offered a Health Plan. Actually, he offered one in 1972 and in 1973 – with each year being dubbed “The Year Of The Health Plan”, but nothing ever came of it.
So in response to this version of a health plan offered by Nixon, Senators Ted Kennedy and Wilbur Mills offered an alternative, one which would be funded via Social Security. Kennedy explained the details of his plan in a radio address on May 22, 1974. Granted, the timing wasn’t particularly terrific – with Impeachment hearings looming and most of America reeling from daily revelations. For once, the Health Care debate took a back-burner.
But, as history has shown, the Kennedy/Mills idea of a Health Plan didn’t fly either.
Here is that rebuttal from May 22, 1974.
Okay – now for the begging and pleading part:
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Now back to talking about Health Care in 1974
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