The History of Health Care Reform: George W. Bush
The road to universal health care did not really advance during the two terms of President George W. Bush, and that's somewhat understandable, given the fact that the administration priority was the war on terror, in light of the September 11, 2001 attacks that it had to respond to. The cost of two wars raised deficits and the national debt, leaving no room for the cost of any sort of universal health care plan.
There was some progress made towards increased medical coverage during Bush's terms however. Bush signed the Medicare Act of 2003, which added prescription drug coverage to Medicare. Beginning in 2006, a prescription drug benefit, called Medicare Part D, was made available. Coverage under Part D is available only through insurance companies and HMOs and is voluntary. Under Bush's plan, enrollees paid a minimum monthly premium of around $25, a $180 to $265 annual deductible, in return for which they would pay about 25% of full drug costs up to $2,400. After this initial coverage limit is reached, a period commonly referred to as the "Donut Hole" begins where an enrollee can be responsible for the insurance company's negotiated price of the drug. This is less than the retail price. This was modified with the passage of the Affordable Care Act, (commonly known as "Obamacare").
The Bush administration's other health care legislation included the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. This law read: "Any physician who, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, knowingly performs a partial-birth abortion and thereby kills a human fetus shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both." The law was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, in the 2007 decision of Gonzales v. Carhart.
Another important area of health care addressed during the Bush administration was in the field of stem cell research. President Bush supported adult stem cell research and umbilical cord blood stem cell research, but opposed any new embryonic stem cell research. He limited the federal funding of existing research. Federal funding for embryonic stem cell research was first approved under President Clinton on January 19, 1999, but no money was to be spent until the guidelines were published. The guidelines were released on August 23, 2000 and allowed use of unused frozen embryos. On August 9, 2001, before any funding was granted under these guidelines, Bush announced modifications to the guidelines to allow use of only existing stem cell lines. Bush claimed that more than 60 embryonic stem cell lines already existed from privately funded research, but a group scientists in 2003 disputed this, saying that there were only 11 usable lines, and in 2005 they claimed that all lines approved for Federal funding were contaminated and unusable.
There was some progress made towards increased medical coverage during Bush's terms however. Bush signed the Medicare Act of 2003, which added prescription drug coverage to Medicare. Beginning in 2006, a prescription drug benefit, called Medicare Part D, was made available. Coverage under Part D is available only through insurance companies and HMOs and is voluntary. Under Bush's plan, enrollees paid a minimum monthly premium of around $25, a $180 to $265 annual deductible, in return for which they would pay about 25% of full drug costs up to $2,400. After this initial coverage limit is reached, a period commonly referred to as the "Donut Hole" begins where an enrollee can be responsible for the insurance company's negotiated price of the drug. This is less than the retail price. This was modified with the passage of the Affordable Care Act, (commonly known as "Obamacare").
The Bush administration's other health care legislation included the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. This law read: "Any physician who, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, knowingly performs a partial-birth abortion and thereby kills a human fetus shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both." The law was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, in the 2007 decision of Gonzales v. Carhart.
Another important area of health care addressed during the Bush administration was in the field of stem cell research. President Bush supported adult stem cell research and umbilical cord blood stem cell research, but opposed any new embryonic stem cell research. He limited the federal funding of existing research. Federal funding for embryonic stem cell research was first approved under President Clinton on January 19, 1999, but no money was to be spent until the guidelines were published. The guidelines were released on August 23, 2000 and allowed use of unused frozen embryos. On August 9, 2001, before any funding was granted under these guidelines, Bush announced modifications to the guidelines to allow use of only existing stem cell lines. Bush claimed that more than 60 embryonic stem cell lines already existed from privately funded research, but a group scientists in 2003 disputed this, saying that there were only 11 usable lines, and in 2005 they claimed that all lines approved for Federal funding were contaminated and unusable.