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The Great Depression Caused The Economic Crisis

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During 1930s, the Great Depression caused the economic turmoil and had an impact on the unemployment, and the poverty among elderly. This created sense of insecurity over future among the citizen of the U.S. and government. There were several advocates, who passionately campaign for national pension plan such as Huey Long proposed Share our Health Plan, and Dr. Francis Townsend proposed the old age revolving plan. Although, Townsend proposal of providing $200/month to 60 years and older was a failure the popularity of Dr. Townsend plan pressurized the Roosevelt Administration to take action and deal with the issue of social insurance in America. Although the depression emphasized on the unemployment insurance and “old age” benefits, the health insurance was omitted from the priority among the Congressman and focused shifted on old-age pension. The law known as Social Security Act (SSA) was enacted on August 14th, 1935 to provide benefits such as unemployment compensation, old age pension, and services for the protection of children.
In addition, McLaughlin and McLaughlin (2015) mentioned that the idea of the health insurance system was implemented during the Great Depression to enhance cash flow in the U.S. The employment-based health insurance and prepaid group practices were introduced after the Great Depression. The first organization to initiate employment-based insurance was the Baylor Hospital and the non-profit organization i.e. the Blue Cross began to offer private

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