Harry S Truman on Health Care

	Harry S Truman on Health Care

I failed at national compulsory health insurance

"I usually find that those who are loudest in protesting against medical help by the federal government are those who do not need help."

"I have had some bitter disappointments as president, but the one that has troubled me most, in a personal way, has been the failure to defeat opposition to a national compulsory health insurance program."

Source: The Wit & Wisdom of Harry Truman, by Ralph Keyes, p. 37-38 , Jan 15, 1953

National system of payments for healthcare

"We are rightly proud of the high standards of medical care we know how to provide in the US. The fact is, however, that most of our people cannot afford to pay for the care they need. I have often & strongly urged that this condition demands a national health program. The heart of the program must be a national system of payment for medical care based on well-tried insurance principles. This great nation cannot afford to allow its citizens to suffer needlessly from the lack of proper medical care." Source: The Wit & Wisdom of Harry Truman, by Ralph Keyes, p.159 , Jan 15, 1953

National health program: adequate care to all who need it

Of all our national resources, none is of more basic value than the health of our people. Over a year ago I presented to the Congress my views on a national health program. The Congress acted on several of the recommendations in this program--mental health, the health of mothers and children, and hospital construction. I urge this Congress to complete the work begun last year and to enact the most important recommendation of the program--to provide adequate medical care to all who need it, not as charity but on the basis of payments made by the beneficiaries of the program.

One administrative change would help greatly to further our national program in the fields of health, education, and welfare. I again recommend the establishment of a well-integrated Department of Welfare.

Source: Pres. Truman's 1947 State of the Union message to Congress , Jan 6, 1947

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Page last updated: Feb 22, 2022