by Graydyl

Created on: March 25, 2009

Problems: Why the Health Security Act Failed

Former President Clinton's appointment of the Task Force membership contributed to the plan's ultimate failure. To some, Clinton's choice to name the First Lady the head of the Task Force indicated his personal commitment of making the health care reform plan a high priority. However, the First Lady's position as head of the Task Force limited government officials' criticism of the plan, criticism that could have shaped the plan to make it more successful. Giving Hilary Clinton too much prominence and leadership restricted President Clinton's maneuverability as her husband. The Task Force alienated perspectives that would have offered a more comprehensive look at health care reform, especially the voices opposing parts of the plan. Many also questioned Clinton's choice to put Ira Magaziner, an outsider to Washington, onto the Health Reform Task Force, causing more people to disprove of Clinton's Task Force.

Although the membership of the Task Force played an important role in drafting the 1993 Health Security Act, the fact that they brainstormed and compiled the plan behind closed doors impacted the government officials and general public's perception of Clinton's health care reform plan. Clinton's secrecy in appointing members of the task force and the plan's silence on important issues such as health care rationing and budget caps fueled the health care debate. Economists and bioethicists complained in The New York Times and The Washington Post about the administration's silence on rationing. The Clinton plan failed because of its inability to handle health care rationing satisfactorily, starting a wave of news articles debating how rationing would fit into the new proposed health care system.

Clinton also skirted around explaining the details of HMOs, or health maintenance organization. Clinton's secrecy involving the exact list of Task force members infuriated organizations such as the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, who filed a lawsuit against Hilary Clinton to gain access to the list. The plan got off to a bad start because it gave the impression of a "secretly concocted, Big-government scheme that [would] dictate how people get their health insurance" [1]. The plan failed because its reception as an obscure plan created by an obscure list of planners constituted widespread opposition and criticism. Leaving congressional members and the general public in the dark did not gain the trust of the

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