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HMO
Issues Beyond Palo Alto, posted by Ted Rudow III,MA, a member of the Palo Alto High School community


Ted Kennedy was the sponsor of the 1973 HMO Act. HMOs did exist prior to 1973, so Kennedy didn't "create" them. What he did do was be as visible of a champion as anyone in the act that made HMOs prominent on the American landscape. It should be noted that Nixon signed the 1973 Act.



But it found this Watergate tape—has nothing to do with Watergate, it’s one of the Nixon tapes—at the Archives, National Archives, where Nixon and Ehrlichman are discussing whether or not to support this HMO concept. And Ehrlichman says to Nixon, "You’re going to love this, because this is private enterprise. This isn’t like some freebie thing." Nixon goes, "Oh, I like that. Tell me about it." And then Ehrlichman says, "Well, this is how it’s going to work, these HMOs. They’re going to make more money by providing less care. The less care they give them, the patients, the more money the company makes." Nixon goes, "Ooh, not bad!"







" I believe that the healthcare bill that was enacted by the current Congress will kill jobs in America, ruin the best healthcare system in the world, and bankrupt our country. That means that we have to do everything we can to try to repeal this bill and replace it with commonsense reforms that will bring down the cost of health insurance." John Boehner







We believe that the people in this country would like to see their tax dollars spent for healthcare, public education, jobs programs, and environmental cleanup, not more military weapons. Furthermore, acts of aggression or war without Congressional approval, with no public debate, and with minimal, censored information generated by the Pentagon and the Obama's administration are those of a totalitarian state, not a democracy.