I was surprised during the debate the other night when Barack Obama claimed that his health care plan covered everyone just like Hillary Clinton's.  In fact Obama's plan leaves 15 million Americans without health care.

Back in the late 1980s, I worked with a non-profit group that was struggling to convince the American public that we needed to find a way to provide health care for the 20 million people in the US who didn't have insurance and couldn't afford to pay for adequate health care. It was a hard sell because, at the time, 80% of Americans were happy with their health insurance and health care.
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By the time Bill Clinton announced in a State of the Union speech that he was proposing universal health care, some members of Congress were working on it and the Clinton administration plan became one of six or seven serious reform proposals before Congress. All of the plans had as their goal coverage for all Americans either immediately or through incremental steps. When the debate began, there were 22 million people without health insurance and the public was becoming aware that there seemed to be a problem.

In the end, not a single plan was adopted although most health care reform groups were willing to support any of the plans.  Why?  Because the public opposed health care reform.

It's simple really.  Eighty percent of Americans still had quality, low-cost health insurance through their jobs. It was pathetically easy for the health insurance industry through its Harry and Louise ads to convince people that covering the 22 million people without health insurance meant that they would lose their own health insurance and they would be forced to stand in line for some limited, poor-quality substitute.  They could have chosen any plan to attack but, obviously, it was easier to attack the only plan put forth by the Clinton administration.