Drs. David Blumenthal and James Morone

In their New England Journal of Medicine article (“The Lessons of Success- Revisiting the Medicare Story,” November 27, 2008), Drs. David Blumenthal and James Morone look ahead to Barack Obama’s presidency and the future of health care reform by first looking back, finding lessons for today in the history of Medicare’s passage.  Dr. Blumenthal, founding director of MIHP, and Dr. Morone, chairman and professor of political science at Brown University, analyzed recently-released tapes of President Lyndon Johnson’s conversations in the Oval Office and other archival materials concerning the Medicare and Medicaid legislation.  Drs. Blumenthal and Morone argue that President Johnson played a larger role in securing passage of this landmark legislation than historians previously believed, and they outline lessons from Johnson's experience for today’s leaders.

Drs. Blumenthal and Morone underscore the need for presidents to prioritize health care reform and “quiet their inner economists” ─ not allowing the potential costs of reform to derail their plans.  Furthermore, the authors believe that “speed is essential” when it comes to health care reform.  Failure to act quickly could doom reform efforts.  President Clinton waited nine months to introduce the soon defeated Health Security Act in 1993, while President Johnson demanded fast action in 1965.

This article, featured in Joseph Shapiro’s November 26th National Public Radio story, “Medicare’s Creation May Offer Health Care Clues” (full-text link below), comes only months before the release of their upcoming book: The Heart of Power: Health and Politics in the Oval Office (University of California Press).  The book, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Investigator’s Award Program, examines the role of each president, since Franklin D. Roosevelt, in addressing health care reform in the United States.  Using a variety of research techniques to evaluate the successes and failures of past presidents in their approach to health policy issues, Drs. Blumenthal and Morone hope to inform the actions of future presidents, their advisors  and other stakeholders.

Dr. Blumenthal is an internationally-recognized expert in health policy and health care delivery systems.  He has served as health policy advisor to many organizations and governmental leaders, including Barack Obama during his presidential campaign.  Dr. Morone’s research interests include welfare reform, political culture, and health care reform.  He has written several books, including the Pulitzer-nominated Hellfire Nation: The Politics of Sin in American History, and over 100 articles and essays on the topic of politics, history, and health policy.  Dr. Morone received the American Political Science Association’s 1991 Kammerer Award for best book in American national policy (for The Democratic Wish). 

Link to Full-Text NEJM Article:
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/359/22/2384

Link to NPR Story (Joseph Shapiro, All Things Considered, November 26, 2008):
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97556568