Health Care Delivery in the U.S. Erratic

Health Care Delivery in the U.S.

ERRATIC AND SLOW BUT SURE

Health Care Delivery in the United States

The timeline of the U.S. health care system stretches from the 1847 when the Massachusetts Health Insurance Company of Boston first offered sickness insurance (Niles, 2006; Blumberg & Davidson, 2012). A French mutual aid society in 1853 designed a prepaid hospital care plan in San Francisco, California. It was the progenitor of modern-day's health maintenance organization or HMO. The first significant development was the formation of the first union by the International Ladies Garment Workers in 1913. The progenitor for regulation of the health insurance industry was drafted by the National Convention of Insurance Commissioners in the same year. A crude form of hospital insurance plan was devised by J.F. Kimball in 1929 for teachers at the Baylor University Hospital in Texas. The rationale was that teachers were spending more on cosmetics than for medical care. The Great Depression hit at the time and the Baylor initiative surfaced and became very popular. It was called Blue Cross, an employer-based health insurance (Niles, Blumberg & Davidson)

In time, Blue Cross became available in most every State (Niles, 2006). Talks were held for the creation of a national health insurance program. But the American Medical Association opposed the idea. There was no funding for it as the money went to repair the damages of the Great Depression and the U.S. participation in World War II. In 1935, President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act. This was the second significant development in the evolution of healthcare. It provided for old age insurance for those of retirement age. Vassar College in New York was the first to create a medical insurance group policy for students in 1936 (Niles).

If the Great Depression accidentally spurred the popularization of employer-based insurance, it was World War II that accidentally spread the concept everywhere else. The War Labor Board froze wages and this compelled employers to offer fringe benefits, mainly in the form of hospital insurance plans, in order to attract workers. In 1943, The Internal Revenue Service wanted to make employer-based care to be tax-free. By 1953, about 57% of the people had hospital insurance. A subsequent law in 1954 provided more attractive tax advantages. This was how Blue Cross evolved into the modern healthcare system. By the 60s, people understood that those with good jobs could get health care through those jobs in comparison with those who depended on the government (Nile).