This is a very good article with a little bit of the history of health reform in this country.
I recommend reading the entire story at:
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/03/21/20100321HealthMoment0321.htmlWASHINGTON - Rarely does the government, that big, clumsy, poorly regarded oaf, pull off anything short of war that touches all lives with one act, one stroke of a president's pen. Such a moment now seems near.
After a year of riotous argument, decades of failure and a century of spoiled hopes, the United States is reaching for a system of medical care that extends coverage nearly to all citizens. The change that's coming, if today's tussle in the House goes President Barack Obama's way, would reshape a sixth of the economy and shatter the status quo
To history, it is likely to be judged alongside the boldest acts of presidents and Congress in the pantheon of domestic affairs. Think of the guaranteed federal pensions of Social Security, socialized medicine for the old and poor, the civil-rights remedies to inequality.