Health Insurance History

Prior to this shift, government involvement in health insurance services was minimal since it seemed to be under control by the non-profit sector. There didn’t seem to be an urgent need to control or universalize health care at the time. The government’s first interest in the health care industry sparked when employers began providing health care benefits as a competitive advantage for recruiting workers back into the workforce during World War II. To help cope with the rising unemployment rates, the government would offer tax incentives to employers providing these benefits. (add Quote)

of the patient with controlling the costs of care, the issue of the uninsured began to grow. The concept of some sort of governmentally funded universal health care for all began over a century ago, however, never successfully implemented. From a historical viewpoint, individuals obtained health insurance by purchasing their own policy, as a benefit of employment, or through governmentally funded programs that required certain eligibility criteria be met in order to be eligible. If a person did not qualify for one of these types of health insurance, they generally were left without health insurance coverage.

In 1954, Congress passed legislation allowing employers to provide health insurance benefits to employees on a tax-free basis (Sih and Singh 99). This legal provision marked the beginning of the rapidly expanding health care costs still apparent today due to the major incentives provided by the government to obtain employer-based health coverage. The overwhelming popularity of employer-based health insurance has led to a serious market inefficiency resulting from the system of third-party payment. As individuals rely on their insurance companies to pay for their medical expenses, this provides

The depression in the 1930’s brought about the Social Security Act. This, however, omitted health insurance. Blue Cross also started offering people hospital care insurance in several states.

Long time ago, there was no need for health insurance in America, as doctors had many clients because their services were not so expensive and in some cases in rural areas, people could pay by giving other items. Doctors were not as knowledgeable as they are nowadays to care for the sick, therefore this didn't have much effect then on the patients, as they were treated for the basic illnesses.

Health insurance began in the 1930’s when the Great Depression hit the United States. After the great depression it became very noticeable that health coverage was needed to protect the people and get them the health care treatment they needed. Too many people were dying of sickness and not able to afford the treatment. It wasn’t until the government tried to create some type of insurance to help with these costs. Medicare was created in 1965 for the elderly citizens. At that time there was also commercial and private insurance for Americans. “For years, clinicians have advocated for health insurance coverage for all Americans. Now, through the Affordable Care Act, the nation is one step closer to this goal. October 1, 2013, marks the

The Great Depression in the 1930’s had been followed by a period of growing income inequality and a shrinking middle class. Due to the economic conditions, Income disparities in access to health care had grown much worse, medical costs were rising, and sickness became a leading cause of poverty. Since few people could afford to pay for medical care welfare agencies began to help pay for medical costs for the poor. By “1940, the population of the united states was 132 million with only 12 million – a little less than 10 percent covered by some form of health insurance”( Scofea, 1994). The growing concern of the increase in the number of people who are uninsured led to the enactment of the Stabilization act in 1942, which imposed wage and price controls but at the same time permitted the adoption of employee insurance plans. The federal government enacted this legislation to prevent employers from raising wages in order to compete for scarce labor in response to the inflation pressure of the wartime economy. Furthermore, the government provided private insurers with a new market for their products by permitting employers to offer health insurance to their employees. In the years that followed, the government passed several regulations that helped reinforced the institutionalization of the employment-based system of health insurance that

In the beginning of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the “healthcare system” was left in the hands of the states, which the states handed off to private and voluntary programs to deal with. In the presidential term of Teddy Roosevelt, 1901-1909, he felt that “no country could be strong whose people were sick and poor.” (Palmer 1999) He did however back health insurance as a whole. Roosevelt was not the one fighting for the health care though, there were outside forces that impacted health care. The American Association of Labor Legislation (AALL) led the campaign for health insurance. They drafted their first bill by 1915. This bill wanted to limit the coverage toward the working class and anyone who earned less than $1,200 a year including dependents. The American Medical Association (AMA) backed this bill because they felt the same way about coverage. The AMA did not speak for all doctors and those who opposed this backing spoke up. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) opposed the bill because they felt that it would weaken the unions and they wanted to maintain their strength. The private insurance

In the past, managed care in the United States took the form of voluntary programs. Such programs date from about 1850, when managed care was provided chiefly by cooperative mutual benefit and fraternal beneficiary associations. Limited coverage by commercial companies was also introduced during that period, and subsequently many plans were established by industries and labor unions.

Prior to The ACA, the United States was primarily composed of a private health care system. This meant that employers, families or individuals would buy health insurance through private insurance companies. There were also Medicare and Medicaid government insurance programs for qualifying individuals. (Bradey, 2016) Typically the Medicare program is reserved for those individuals who have reached retirement age and Medicaid is for the poor. There are exceptions to each of the programs that this paper will not explore.

The current system of healthcare in the US evolved from a circumstantial set of laws passed during World War II. Because wages were limited by law, employers resorted to fringe benefits as a means for attracting top talent. Healthcare plans existed prior to the conflict, but due to the war, these plans became an ingrained national phenomenon (Blumberg and Davidson). Tying health insurance to employment proved problematic because the unemployed, or self-employed, often lacked coverage. Around the beginning of the 1970s, increases in healthcare costs began to diverge from the Consumer Price Index (CPI). This trend has only increased since then and has

Other developed countries, such as Germany, Austria, Hungary, Norway, Britain, Russia, The Netherlands, Sweden, France, and Switzerland, all had socialized or nationalized healthcare as late as 1912. The primary reason for the emergence of these programs in Europe was income stabilization and protection against the wage loss of sickness rather than payment for medical expenses, which came later (pnhp.org). In the United States during this time, federal regulation of health care programs was nonexistent; states were given the responsibility and right to regulate within themselves and to determine what- if any- programs were available to their

The main historical developments that have shaped the health care delivery system in the United States. Knowledge of the history of health care is essential for understanding the main characteristics of the system as it exists today. For example, the system’s historical foundations explain why health care delivery in the United States has been resistant to national health insurance, which has been adopted by Canada and most European nations. Traditionally held American cultural beliefs and values, technological advances, social changes, economic constraints, and political

Healthcare didn’t always exist in the United States. Before the 1920’s, most people didn’t have health coverage. Most people were treated at home and hardly anyone, except a few large employers offered healthcare. Everyone else paid out of pocket. As the population shifted from rural areas to urban centers, families lived in smaller homes with less room to care for sick family members (Faulkner 1960, p. 509). Increasing requirements for licensing and accreditation, in addition to a rising demand for medical care, eventually led to rising costs. By the end of 1920s, there was an increased demand for medical care and the costs of medical care increased.

Throughout the first part of the 20th century there was little effort to promote health insurance, but in the second half of the 20th century healthcare became a major concern. Once, Medicare and Medicaid were introduced in 1965 the government along with its citizens took a major step in the progression of healthcare. From then, there was a shift in the privatization of healthcare. This forced many of the lower class to be without health insurance. In 1993, President Clinton with the best of in intentions failed at establishing a universal healthcare system in the United States. Finally in 2006, Massachusetts passed a law that would provide healthcare coverage for all of its state residents. In 2010 the