who was the first u.s. president to propose a national health insurance plan
History of health care reform in the United States Following the world war, President Harry Truman called for universal health care as a part of his Fair Deal in 1949 but strong opposition stopped that part of the Fair Deal.[14][15] However, in 1946 the National Mental Health Act was passed, as was the Hospital Survey and Construction Act, or Hill-Burton Act. In 1951 the IRS declared group premiums paid by employers as a tax-deductible business expense,[6] which solidified the third-party insurance companies' place as primary providers of access to health care in the United States.
Health insurance coverage in the United States Health insurance coverage in the United States is provided by several public and private sources. During 2016, the U.S. population overall was approximately 325 million, with 53 million persons 65 years of age and over covered by the federal Medicare program. The 272 million non-institutional persons under age 65 either obtained their coverage from employer-based (155 million) or non-employer based (90 million) sources, or were uninsured (27 million).[1] Approximately 15 million military personnel received coverage through the Veteran's Administration.[2] During the year 2016, 91.2% of Americans had health insurance coverage.[3] Despite being among the top world economic powers, the US remains the sole industrialized nation in the world without universal health care coverage.[4][5]