In 1993, during the Clintons’ attempts to create health reform, the Iowa Academy of Family Physicians came forward with the Principles of Health Reform (present in archives), which I helped to write. Number one and the most important principle was that individuals should have the peace of mind of knowing they and their families have access to affordable, comprehensive health care.
Failing in that effort in the early 1990s to achieve broad health reform, as Senator Tom Harkin would tell you, Congress and individuals throughout the country sought to make incremental improvements in the system. One of the major efforts was made in the area of children’s health care. During that time, the Healthy and Well Kids in Iowa (HAWK-I) program was conceived, developed, legislated, and passed into law. Working on that effort, I wrote a piece published by The Des Moines Register (present in archives) that described a child arriving at school with a cut held together with rags and electrical tape because of the family’s inability to afford health care. I would submit that that parent did not have peace of mind regarding his or her child’s health.