Introducing Season Four: Mitt & Ted, a healthcare story
The Big Dig Season 4: Mitt & Ted, a healthcare storyShow Notes
Healthcare is the problem American politics cannot solve. It’s the subject of screaming matches at town halls, the cause of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, the justification for political assassination in cold blood. But how did our most basic need become such a divisive issue? In Season Four of The Big Dig podcast, "Mitt & Ted", we tell the origin story of national healthcare reform. Mitt Romney and Ted Kennedy began their political journeys on opposite sides of the issue, and they ended once again on opposite sides, but for a brief period in the middle they worked together to pass a groundbreaking law – one that promised to finally transform the politics of American healthcare – the law known as Romneycare. So, what brought this odd couple together and what ultimately pulled them apart? For early access to episodes, join The Big Dig membership program. Learn more at wgbh.org/hovlane.
More from The Big Dig Season 4: Mitt & Ted, a healthcare story
Time is running out for Massachusetts to pass healthcare reform. The bill’s fate now rests with the two old friends who run the state legislature and control everything that happens there. Unfortunately, these old friends have stopped talking.
The controversial centerpiece of the Affordable Care Act – the requirement for all Americans to purchase health insurance – began its strange political journey at the conservative Heritage Foundation. In deep blue Massachusetts the mandate was considered a fringe idea, until it lands on Governor Romney’s desk.
After their bruising senate campaign, Kennedy and Romney reunite for a mission to lobby the Bush administration. At stake: more than a billion dollars of federal money that is propping up the state’s entire healthcare system.
In the midst of the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon reaches out to his rival Ted Kennedy and offers him a deal – a one time chance to reshape American healthcare, which might also save Nixon’s doomed presidency. Will the young senator take the deal?
Mitt Romney’s first political campaign was not for president or governor; it was for the U.S. Senate, and it was against Ted Kennedy. Early on the challenger looks unstoppable – handsome, eloquent, moderate – then the Kennedy camp starts digging into Romney’s past. --- Special thanks to FRONTLINE for archival sound from The Long March of Newt Gingrich & The Health Care Gamble.