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Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

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Protestors on a march, holding signs that read "Healthcare is a Human Right" and "Insulin or food should not be a choice: Medicare for All"

Health Care Reform’s History of Utter Failure

Repeated failures by both political parties to get a decent policy through our 18th-century constitutional structure led to the Affordable Care Act.
by Ryan Cooper via The Nation on November 28, 2021

Unpopular Mandate

Why do politicians reverse their positions?
by Ezra Klein via The New Yorker on June 25, 2012
Illustration of Robert Greenstein holding his glasses

How One Man Quietly Stitched the American Safety Net Over Four Decades

Robert Greenstein isn’t a household name. But his career lobbying for the poor has changed the lives of millions of Americans.
by Dylan Matthews via Vox on November 14, 2022
A protest sign raised in front of the Supreme Court, reading, "Keep abortion safe, legal, & accessible!"

The History of Abortion Law in the United States

The right to abortion has been both supported and contested throughout history.  When banned, abortions still occur, but legal restrictions make them less safe.
by Carrie N. Baker via Our Bodies Ourselves Today on August 12, 2022
A promotional postcard for Prudential Insurance Company of America, c. 1958

Our Insurance Dystopia

Private insurance companies have long dominated the provision of social security in the United States, but resistance is growing.
by Caley Horan via Boston Review on June 14, 2021
Joe Biden.
partner

The History of Using Computers to Distribute Benefits Like Biden’s Relief Checks

Technology can break down, but just as often with government tech, glitches are rooted in policy failures.
by Marc Aidinoff via Made By History on March 10, 2021

The Obamanauts

What is the defining achievement of Barack Obama?
by Corey Robin via Dissent on October 7, 2019

A Brief History of American Health Reform

In order to win universal health care, we have to understand what — and who — we're up against.
by Colin Gordon via Jacobin on July 25, 2017

Trumpcare Is Dead. “Single Payer Is the Only Real Answer,” Says Medicare Architect.

Max Pine, 91, believes that one day “the Republicans will leap ahead of the Democrats and lead in its enactment.”
by Zaid Jilani, Max Pine via The Intercept on July 19, 2017

On Health Care, History is Watching. And it’s Watching Four Senators in Particular.

We should not be surprised by the attacks on Obamacare, they are, in fact, the typical response to social reform.
by E. J. Dionne Jr. via Washington Post on July 16, 2017

The Fight for Health Care Has Always Been About Civil Rights

In dismantling Obamacare and slashing Medicaid, Republicans would strike a blow against signature victories for racial equality in America.
by Vann R. Newkirk II via The Atlantic on June 27, 2017
Trump at the podium, surrounded by other officials.
partner

Why are Republicans Trapped on Health Care? Because Democrats Stole Their Best Idea.

When Democrats claimed the individual mandate, Republicans lost their best idea for health-care reform.
by Guian McKee via Made By History on June 26, 2017
Cartoon of congressmen talking in two insular groups. Illustration by Steve Brodner

The Empty Chamber

For many reasons, senators don’t have the time, or the inclination, to get to know one another—least of all members of the other party.
by George Packer via The New Yorker on August 2, 2010
Hakeem Jeffries with a sign that reads "Hands off Medicaid and SNAP"
partner

The Historic Dangers of Slashing Medicaid Funding

Medicaid has always been fiercely contested political terrain, and past cuts have had disastrous human costs.
by Ben Zdencanovic via Made By History on May 6, 2025
Constitution mural in the Capitol rotunda.

James Madison and the Crisis of the New Order

The effort to return American government to republican principles is daunting—but the Founders’ wisdom can serve as a guide.
by Richard Samuelson via Law & Liberty on March 4, 2025
Nancy Pelosi standing next to a sign that says "Protecting America's Health Care."

UnitedHealthcare’s Decades-Long Fight to Block Reform

UnitedHealthcare, the health insurer whose CEO was murdered, has spent decades fighting and winning political battles to maintain the for-profit health system.
by Branko Marcetic via Jacobin on December 21, 2024
Aftermath of the explosions at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine.

How Congress Is Written Out of History

Congress's role in shaping policies like the Affordable Care Act and exonerating Port Chicago sailors is often overlooked, overshadowed by the president.
by John A. Lawrence via Perspectives on History on October 31, 2024
Demonstrators protest outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, March 26, 2024.

The Truth About the Comstock Act

The anti-obscenity law is unenforceable and probably unconstitutional. Conservatives still want to use it to ban medication abortions.
by Hassan Ali Kanu via The American Prospect on April 9, 2024
Photo of surgeons performing surgery in a dimly lit operation room.
partner

For Hospitals, ‘Nonprofit’ Doesn't Mean ‘Charitable’

Medical debt has always been part of the history of nonprofit hospitals.
by Colleen M. Grogan via Made By History on September 28, 2023
Tom Scully, stethescopes, and money.

Patient Zero

Tom Scully is as responsible as anyone for the way health care in America works today.
by David Dayen via The American Prospect on August 1, 2023
Black and white photo of Eugene Debs being released from an Atlanta federal prison on Christmas Day, 1921.

The American Socialism That Might Have Been

Despite their minority status, the Socialists had been a significant force in American politics before patriotic war hysteria brought on an era of repression.
by Adam Hochschild via The Nation on October 12, 2022
Joe Biden signing a document
partner

Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act Exposes Our Allergy to Taxes

The rise of a new tax politics has made it harder to address our problems, and now it threatens democracy, too.
by Molly Michelmore via Made By History on August 19, 2022
Photo from the January 6th Capitol Attack, with rioters raising a flag in front of a cloud of smoke by the capitol.

How the Republican Party Embraced Political Violence Before January 6th

On the alarming origins of the current political moment.
by Dana Milbank via Literary Hub on August 15, 2022
A picture of switchboard operators.

Intimacy at a Distance

Hannah Zeavin’s history of remote and distance psychotherapy asks us whether the medium matters more than the message.
by Danielle Carr via The Nation on June 14, 2022
Donald Trump speaking at a meeting with small businesspeople at the White House on January 30, 2017.

Family Capitalism and the Small Business Insurrection

The increasingly militant right supports the private, unincorporated, and family-based versus the corporate, publicly traded, and shareholder-owned.
by Melinda Cooper via Dissent on January 13, 2022
This image made available by the National Cancer Institute Center for Cancer Research in 2015 shows human colon cancer cells with the nuclei stained red.
partner

Richard Nixon’s War On Cancer Has Lessons For Biden’s New Push Against The Disease

Fifty years later, the legacy of the National Cancer Act illustrates the need for a broad approach.
by Eugene Rusyn, Abbe R. Gluck via Made By History on December 21, 2021
Bob Dole sitting next to Mike Pence at an official event

Bob Dole’s Disability Rights Legacy Marked the End of a Bipartisan Era

The former Republican leader played a key role in the Americans With Disabilities Act but stuck with the GOP as the party turned its back on the law.
by Erica Garcia via The New Republic on December 5, 2021
Picture of a computer.

The Internet Is Rotting

Too much has been lost already. The glue that holds humanity’s knowledge together is coming undone.
by Jonathan Zittrain via The Atlantic on June 30, 2021
ACT UP protesters take part in an act of civil disobedience near the West Steps of the U.S. Capitol in 2004.
partner

AIDS Disappeared From Public View Without Ending. Will Covid-19 Do the Same?

By thinking of diseases just as medical problems, we allow them to fester in poor communities.
by Dan Royles via Made By History on June 29, 2021
Senator Joe Manchin
partner

History Reveals That Getting Rid of the Filibuster is the Only Option

Reforms have only made obstruction the Founders never intended worse.
by Nancy Young via Made By History on March 12, 2021
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