The Jackson National Health Program

Abstract

In this position paper we outline the major problems that exist in the U.S. health care system and present a proposal for addressing them. This paper contains the major health proposal put forward by the Jesse Jackson 1988 Campaign, calling for the establishment in the United States of a universal and comprehensive National Health Program (NHP) that will be federally funded and administered and be equitably financed. We also discuss how the NHP will affect patients, unions, corporations and employers, practitioners and other health workers, hospitals, and the insurance industry. Specific proposals are made for the transition from the current system to the proposed NHP, with a discussion of the major differences between national health proposals put forward by the two major Democratic contenders for the U.S. Presidency. This position paper also includes a brief appendix sketching some of the major differences between the U.S. and the Canadian medical care systems.