Congress Passes Historic Health Care Reform

For the first time in generations, the US Congress has passed a bill reforming our nations health care system.
Historical Attempts
This lofty goal has eluded reformers ever since Teddy Roosevelt attempted it during his 1912 run for president. A national health insurance program was proposed by FDR as part of Social Security, and the effort was continued by his successor Harry Truman in the 1940s, but stiff opposition by conservatives derailed the effort. Lyndon Johnson managed to get limited reforms enacted with the passage of Medicare in 1965, although this national health insurance program is only available to those over 65 years old (and a few others in certain circumstances). Despite nearly universal support today, conservatives vehemently opposed Medicare at the time, claiming it would be the start of government takeover of the health care system. In fact, Sarah Palin almost quoted verbatim the fear mongering speech by Ronald Reagan to the AMA in 1961 that opposed the creation of Medicare.
Richard Nixon proposed the Comprehensive Health Insurance Act in 1974, and this effort continued under Jimmy Carter, although it ultimately failed to materialize due to opposition by liberal Congressman like Ted Kennedy because it did not go far enough. Bill Clinton unsuccessfully attempted a modest overhaul of the system after in 1993 which was viciously attacked by right wing politicians and talk radio.