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American Medical Association
The American Medical Association (AMA) was formed in 1847, but reorganized in 1901 as the national organization of state and local associations. During this time, membership increased from about 8,000 physicians to 70,000 in 1910. This accounted for nearly half the physicians in the country. The reorganization of AMA marked the beginning of "organized medicine." AMA is dedicated to "scientific advanement, improving public health, and investing in the doctor an patient relationship." -
Pure Food and Drug Act
This law took nearly 25 years to create and pass. The Pure Food and Drugs Act came into law in 1906 "allowing the government to monitor the purity of foods and the safety of medicines." Harvey Washington Wiley is known as the father of this law. The Pure Food and Drug Act provided protection to Americans that they did not know they needed. -
Blue Cross Blue Shield
The first Blue Cross Blue Shield pre-paid hospital care plans started in 1929, opening the lid on healthcare insurance. Justin Ford Kimball at Baylor University in Texas created the prototype for these plans. Members with these prepaid plans received a wide range of healthcare benefits and medical services. Enrollment in these plans grew from 1,300 to 3 million over 10 years. -
National Health Program Plan
President Truman tries to pass a national health program plan advertising one system for all. It was denounced and called a cmmunist plot. Many of the European countries at this time were implementing national healthcare and Truman wanted to follow suit. -
Social Security Act
Congress passed the Social Security Act (SSA) in 1935. This Act provided a wide variety of benefits but was significant to healthcare because it included grants which promoted health and wellbeing to mothers and children, especially those living in rural areas. -
Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act
The Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act was passed in 1938 largely through the efforts of women. This Act required products to be advertised and labeled by their common name and three types of food standards were established. The label, product quality, and fill of the container would now all be regulated. -
Federal Security Agency
The Federal Security Agency was created in 1939. This agency brought together social security, economic security, health and education. It was created in the hopes of eliminating the number of agencies reporting directly to the President. The FDA was one of these agencies. The FSA was abolished, however, in 1953 and many of its functions were taken up by the US Department of Health, Education and Welfare. -
Company Healthcare Benfits
Comanies begin to offer benefits to their employees which included different levels of healthcare coverage. -
Department of Health, Education and Welfare
President Eisenhower did some cleaning up in 1953 and reorganized several departments to become one large Department of Health, Education and Welfare. It's purpose was to provide healthcare services, welfare benefits and promote education. In 1979, the Department of Education branched off and a new Department of Health and Human Services was created. -
Surgeon General
Luther Terry was the first to release a Surgeon General's report on smoking and tobacco. Terry was part of an advisory committee that studied thousands of reports on the effects of smoking. This committee was the first to draw an association with smoking to lung cancer. -
Medicare/Medicaid
Medicare and Medicaid programs were created allowing healthcare to be available to millions of Americans. Medicare was created for the elderly and Medicaid was created for the poor. -
Smoking Laws
Two laws were adopted in the mid 60's. One was the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act of 1965 and the second was the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act of 1969. Together, these laws required that a health warning (Surgeon General's warning) be clearly labeled on every package of cigarettes and tobacco. They banned cigarette advertising in the broadcasting media and required an annual report be published on the effects of smoking. -
Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973
This Act was first thought up by Dr. Paul Ellwood who was looking for ways to stunt medical inflation. A health maintenance organization creates a plan for individuals to receive certain health care services. The Act provided grants to new or expanding HMO's, and required businesses with 25 or more employees to offer federal HMO options if they also offered traditional health insurance options to employees. -
Medigap
Medigap (also known as Medicare supplement insurance) was created in 1983 to help those who are covered by Medicare. There are always "gaps" in the system, and this insurance provides help to cover those gaps that Medicare may not provide for. -
Human Genome Project
The Human Genome Project was established in 1990. Its goal was to sequence all 3 billion base pairs of DNA found in one human body. Researchers were provided with the tools and resources they needed to begin to understand genetic factors in human disease. The Human Genome project paved the way for new strategies for diagnosis, treatment and prevention plans. -
Nutrition Labeling and Education Act
The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act was passed in 1993. The FDA now required nutrition labeling on most foods and all nutrient content claims (example "high in fiber") were required to be consistent as well. This helped Americans in a huge way. A level of trust was built between consumers and food companies. American could expect to receive exactly what they were purchasing because of the label requirements. -
HIPPA
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted in 1996. This Act protected individuals from their health information becomming public. Several rules were created from this Act including the HIPPA Security Rule, the HIPPA Breach Notification Rule, and the Patient Safety Rule. -
Ticket to Work/Work Incentivs Improvement Act
The Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 was signed, making it possible for millions of Americans with disabilities to join the workforce without fear of losing their Medicaid and Medicare coverage. It also modernized the employment services system for people with disabilities. -
Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act
The Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act (MMA) was enacted in 2003. This Act is considered to be the most significant expansion of Medicare. This Act uses tax breaks and subsidies to provide benefits for prescription drugs. Those receiving Medicare benefit the most from this Act because of the rising cost and prescription drugs and our increasing dependence on them. -
Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) was signed into law by President Obama in 2010. This Act is still being rolled out and it is hard to say just what will come of the new law. There are many changes, both good and bad that will be coming. One of the most significant changes is that children are now covered under their parents health insurance until age 26. Another change is that children under 19 cannot be dropped from their health care plans for a pre-existing condition.