Public Medical Care: The Over-all Picture

Abstract

IT IS not possible to outline in any. precise or simple fashion the role that government is at present playing in the provision of medical care. Certain general statements can be made for the country as a whole regarding the medical care responsibilities of the Federal Government. For the states and local communities, however, there is such great variation between different parts of the country and between rural and urban communities that generalizations are impossible. The total volume of medical care now provided by government is very large indeed. Because of the difficulty in securing and presenting the facts regarding the respective parts played by Federal, state, and local government, it is important to make these facts clear to the general public. For the purpose of this discussion, the role of government, whether Federal, state, or local, in providing medical care will be presented under four general heads: 1. Medical care supplied to groups for whom government has assumed complete responsibility; 2. Programs dealing with the prevention or treatment of specific types of illness or disability, such as cancer, tuberculosis, mental or chronic diseases, and permanent injury or deformity; 3. Programs of general medical care providing services primarily for the needy; 4. Programs affecting the health and medical care of the entire population.