The History of Health Insurance In the US: Part 1

This will take more than one post because it's a long history and believe it or not it's actually quite interesting. The concerns and problems relating to health insurance haven't changed in the past 100 years. Here we go.

• National health care systems started in Europe with insurance laws put into effect in Germany in 1883.
• By 1912, most European nations had passed national health care legislation.
• By the end of the 19th century, medical care in the US shifted from the home to the doctor’s office and the hospital raising the cost of health care thus increasing the need for a system to pay for medical care.
• In the 19th and early 20th centuries, there were six forms of health insurance available. They were fraternal societies, contract physicians, private physician plans, county medical bureau plans, hospital service plans, and group insurance plans offered by private insurance companies. At that time, a very small percentage of the population purchased any health insurance.
• In 1913, the American Medical Association (AMA) stated that only about 10% of America’s doctors were making a comfortable living.
• In the early 20th century, the general opinion of the American people and the AMA was that some form of mandatory health insurance was necessary but for different reasons. The American people needed a way to pay for medical care because the majority of the population couldn’t afford treatment. The AMA wanted to raise physician’s income.
• During this time the general belief was that the federal government was responsible for providing for the betterment of the masses.
• The drive for mandatory health insurance didn’t come from the government. It came from the American Association of Labor Legislation (AALL). The AALL was formed to address the dangerous working conditions in many industries. After successes in their legislative attempts, the AALL turned their attention to mandatory health insurance. The AALL suggested a health insurance plan that was supported by the employer (40%), employee (40%), and the government (20%).
• In 1916, the AMA formed the Committee on Social Insurance that supported health insurance legislation.
• In 1916, the AALL chose to attempt to pass health insurance legislation at the state level. They selected Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey as trial states. The bill proposed in New York was opposed by the medical community because it opposed the fee-for-service principle, patients couldn’t choose their own physician, and the plan put the state rather than the physician in control. The problems were resolved and an insurance bill was passed by the state legislator.

Doesn't some of this sound familiar?