The Age of Eisenhower: America and the World in the 1950s

by William I. Hitchcock

This principle of effective yet restrained government led Eisenhower to champion a program for national health insurance, a policy area of infamous complexity and entrenched interests. As early as his State of the Union message in January 1954, he expressed his convictions on the subject: “I am flatly opposed to the socialization of medicine,” he began predictably. But he did believe that with the rising costs of medical care and health insurance, many Americans had no protection against sudden injury or illness. He floated the idea of a “limited government reinsurance program” to backstop private insurance companies and encourage them to offer “broader protection to more families.” In March 1954 the administration sent a proposal to Congress that would set up a $25 million fund, which the government would use to guarantee policies given to low-income or high-risk groups. HEW Secretary Oveta Hobby said the scheme would allow insurance companies to offer more insurance to a wider population, while avoiding a national or socialized program.24 But in a stunning defeat for the president, the reinsurance bill was killed in the House of Representatives in July.