FACTBOX: Previous U.S. health reform efforts
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress is tackling an overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system, which President Barack Obama hopes to sign into law by the end of the year.
Following is a timeline of previous U.S. health-reform efforts:
*1912: Theodore Roosevelt endorses health insurance as part of his presidential bid on the Progressive Party ticket. Roosevelt, who served as a Republican president between 1901 and 1909, loses the election.
*1930-1939: President Franklin D. Roosevelt considers national health insurance as part of his New Deal reforms, but decides it is too politically risky to include in his Social Security Act, which sets up benefits for the elderly and the unemployed.
An effort to pass health insurance on its own falls short in Congress, which grew weary of federal government expansion.
*1943: The War Labor Board rules that a wage freeze designed to keep inflation in check during World War II does not apply to health insurance benefits, creating an incentive for employers to provide health insurance as a way to build worker loyalty.
*1945-1949: President Harry Truman's attempts to set up a national health program are thwarted by opponents who cite it as socialism and racial desegregation.
*1954: The Revenue Act of 1954 excludes employer contributions to health plans from taxable income, creating further incentives for employer-based health insurance.
*1965: In the most significant health reform of the century, President Lyndon Johnson signs into law the Medicare health program for the elderly and the Medicaid program for the poor and the disabled.
*1970s: Though support for greater healthcare coverage is widespread, momentum dissipates during the Watergate scandal. Soaring inflation, economic recession and rising healthcare costs further blunt reform.
*1993: President Bill Clinton crafts a detailed plan calling for universal coverage that relies largely on competition between private insurers, with government regulation to control costs. Clinton's fellow Democrats in Congress are divided and determined opposition from Republicans and business interests kill it.
*1997: The State Children's Health Insurance Program covers families with children who have modest incomes but are not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid. In the ensuing decade, President George W. Bush vetoes two attempts to expand funding for the program, but President Barack Obama signs an expansion into law in 2009.
*2003: The Republican-controlled Congress expands Medicare to cover prescription drug costs through private insurance. Health Savings Accounts allow those in high-deductible plans to set aside pretax dollars to pay for care.
*2007: Bush proposes replacing the current preference for employer-sponsored insurance with a standard healthcare deduction, but Congress does not act on the plan.
(Source: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)
(Compiled by Andy Sullivan)
