Medical Insurance In The 1900's

This paper is about how Medical Insurance has changed over the last 150 years. Medical coverage continues to make headlines in news today, and handled much differently in the past. According to Healthy People 2020, we have struggled to get 100% of citizens under the age of 65 insured. In 2012, only 83% had medical coverage, which hasn’t changed much from 2008. The ACA (Affordable Care Act) was supposed to help with that which was enacted in 2010. Let’s begin to discuss how medical coverage was treated before the 1900’s.

Medical Coverage 1900’s

In the early 1900’s healthcare insurance did not exist, and health care was not controlled. Doctors mainly saw patients in their homes. Patients paid doctors out of pocket and the doctors set the price.

This is the first private medical insurance company. Commercial insurance did not provide health insurance in 1908 (Moseley, 2008). Regulations and Organization of health professions begin in this era. The AMA (American Medical Association) forms in 1900’s and increased dramatically from 8,000 physicians to 70,000 in just 10 years. The AMA held certain standards and licensure for physicians in order to treat patients. They became stricter, charging higher fees and tougher standards for medical students. By 1929, the need for medical care grows and the Great Depression made it no easier for citizens to pay for their medical costs. Blue Cross begins in the 1930’s which community hospitals get together to offer hospital coverage to patients. By 1933, employee insurance plans extend to cover families and commercial insurance plans begin to offer insurance for the employed that are young and healthy. They tend to charge higher rates for sicker patients. By the late 1940s of the 132 million people in the US, only 12 million are insured. That’s only about 10% of the country! Things tend to get better with medical coverage in the

By the 1950s, the World War II era was over and the payment for healthcare has changed. With fewer patients paying out of pocket and more patients being insured (Fuchs, 2012). Medicare and Medicaid program was created in 1965. Medicare and Medicaid plans accounts for 32% of medical spending. During the 1980’s and 1990’s, the cost of health care rose rapidly and the majority of employer-sponsored group insurance plans switched from “fee-for-service” plans to the cheaper “managed care plans.” As a result, most Americans with health insurance were enrolled in managed care plans by the mid-1990s (The History of Health Insurance in the United States,