Former President Jimmy Carter's healthcare legacy — though marked by political defeats — laid the groundwork for modern policy approaches to address rising costs, a policy expert wrote in a Dec. 29 op-ed published in Time.
Mr. Carter, who died Dec. 29 at age 100, entered office in 1977 during a period of skyrocketing healthcare costs. Total national health expenditures had steeply risen from $74 billion in 1970 to $152 billion in 1977, largely driven by the 1965 launch of Medicare and its generous reimbursement policies, according to Guian McKee, PhD, White Burkett Miller Professor of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia's Miller Center for Public Affairs.
Hospital cost containment was a cornerstone of Mr. Carter's healthcare agenda. In 1977, he drafted a two-pronged proposal to cap total hospital revenue growth and limit annual capital expenditures — an ambitious approach that faced significant pushback from hospitals.
While Congress repeatedly rejected his efforts, Mr. Carter's vision put an important spotlight on "the burgeoning cost control problems in the American health care system," Dr. McKee wrote. He also influenced the Democratic Party's shift from advocating for single-payer systems to embracing a mix of public and private insurance, a strategy later reflected in the Affordable Care Act.
"More than any other modern president, he took on the health care industry, as well as his own allies, by attempting to address the high costs of American health care," Dr. McKee wrote.
Mr. Carter's actions offer "a template for the kind of leadership and focus needed to address the health care system's enduring flaws in 2024," he added.
Read the full op-ed here.