Jimmy Carter: Kennedy obstructed health care reform in 1970s

In an interview with CBS News, former President Jimmy Carter said "he doesn't have 'any doubt' that [Former Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass.] stood in the way of his administration's plans for national health care insurance. 'I had worked very carefully with the leaders of the five committees,' Mr. Carter said. 'And they were all cooperating with me. We were writing the legislation for pretty much comprehensive health care…. At the last minute, the same week we were going to reveal what we have finally come forward to present to the entire Congress and the public, Senator Kennedy decided not to support it,' he said" (Delargy, 12/1).

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This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.