Theodore Roosevelt campaigned for nomination in the 1912 Republican National Convention and lost. He founded the Progressive Party to campaign seperately for the Presidential Election. The party's platform called for Universal Health Care. Yet the party the 1912 elections. America didn't develop even a federal health program for more than half a century later. But what if the Progressive Party won the 1912 elections and enacted universal health care
Teddy Roosevelt enacts Universal Health Care
- Thread starter Ohfshkssgb
- Start date
If Roosesvelt was able to win, would Republicans and Democrats in congress actually work with him?
Did the Progressive Party have any success with congressional candidates?
Did the Progressive Party have any success with congressional candidates?
POD is that they win all elections of 1912 including Congress
Let me suggest instead some kind of working coalition. Maybe similar to Reagan and the southern “Dixiecrats” in 1981 for his tax cut.
Flexner Report - Wikipedia
‘ . . . Flexner expressed that he found Hopkins to be a "small but ideal medical school, embodying in a novel way, adapted to American conditions, the best features of medical education in England, France, and Germany." . . . ’
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As interesting line crossing,
the “Flexner Report” came out in 1910, two years before this election. In time, it would shut down the crappy medical schools, and I guess we could say it helped to “rationalize” the profession. Mostly good effects, some bad.
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Would there be much healthcare to pay for in 1912 ? Free morphine and plaster casts?
[ ok, I guess hospice care for TB patients ]
EDIT: according to Getzen "The Growth of Health Spending in the USA: 1776 to 2026", health care spending between 1910 and 1920 was about 3% of GDP and grew to 4% by 1940.
[ ok, I guess hospice care for TB patients ]
EDIT: according to Getzen "The Growth of Health Spending in the USA: 1776 to 2026", health care spending between 1910 and 1920 was about 3% of GDP and grew to 4% by 1940.
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As I understand, it would have been a Bismarck-style social insurance system.
And it would not be universal right off the bat, but would initially only cover segments of industrial workers.
It is very possible, as IOTL up until WW1, this idea got support from the powerful AMA, and that’s without a president actively pushing this idea.