On March 21, 2010, the U.S. House of Representatives approved “a far-reaching overhaul of the nation’s health system . . . , voting over unanimous Republican opposition to provide medical coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans after an epic political battle that,” according to The New York Times, “could define the differences between the parties for years.”[1] The vote was 219 to 212. “This isn’t radical reform,” the U.S. president said, “but it is major reform.”[2] Whether that was real change is an open question. House Speaker Pelosi said, “Today we have the opportunity to complete the great unfinished business of our society and pass health insurance reform for all Americans that is a right and not a privilege.”[3] While Obama was referring to the bill’s reliance on extant private insurance companies, absent even a public option, Pelosi made explicit the change to the American social contract—access to health-care would henceforth be a right for all citizens rather than a benefit to be conferred to those able to pay from their own wherewithal and insurance. The basis of this new right was undoubtedly the human right to life, as in the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The closeness of the House vote suggests that the people were divided on whether the new right ought to be conferred (and/or whether it should be conferred by the U.S. Government rather than decided on a State by Stat basis). Sure enough, the pendulum did indeed shift.
The full essay is at "Contending Healthcare Social Contracts."
1. Robert Pear and David M. Herszenhorn, “Obama Hails Vote on Health Care as Answering ‘the Call of History,” The New York Times, March 22, 2010, p. A1.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
