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healthcare reform

healthcare reform

12 3.4
Changes to make a country's health care system better and help more people get care
  • noun
  • /ˈhɛlθˌkɛr rɪˈfɔrm/
translation icon : reforma sanitaria
  • The government is aiming to implement significant healthcare reform to ensure that all citizens have access to medical services.
  • healthcare reform bill
  • healthcare reform efforts
  • healthcare reform views

And so we've tried to use that influence to push on healthcare reform, to make sure we have affordable healthcare.

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Examples

  • What people need to understand about healthcare reform is that we can improve the quality of care and lower spending at the same time.

  • Arguably, healthcare reform was one of the issues that won Bill Clinton the presidency in 1992.

    Academic text (1996)
  • The healthcare reform continues to heat up in congress, but at what cost to the industry?

  • Many people, both in and out of the healthcare industry, have been calling for healthcare reform.

    Academic text (2002)
  • We have a new administration that has promised "change," a major focus of which is "healthcare reform."

    Academic text (1993)
  • I'm here to talk about healthcare reform and I decided to focus on what should be done and why it should be done.

  • Perhaps they believe that cooperation will bring them a place at the planning table for healthcare reform.

    Academic text (1993)
  • If you wanted to truly affect healthcare reform, you'd do something about cost.

    Blog text (23)
  • President Clinton initiated an extensive debate on healthcare reform at the end of September 1993.

    Academic text (1994)
  • The debate surrounding healthcare reform has raised passions rarely seen in domestic politics.

    Academic text (1994)

How Extensive

healthcare reform
12 3.4
policy change
19 3.5

Surface Forms

Morphology

healthcare + reform

The meaning 'changes to improve a country's health care system' is directly and predictably derived from combining 'healthcare' (medical services) with 'reform' (a process or plan to improve institutions). This noun+noun composition is a common, cross-linguistic pattern ("reform of X"), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the overall meaning.

Etymology

Healthcare reform gives an easy image: healthcare is the system of doctors and hospitals, and reform means to change something to make it better, like fixing a broken building. So 'healthcare reform' feels like rebuilding or repairing the health system, which is why it means 'making changes to improve' a country's health care.