Voluntary health insurance on the national scene; the present status of voluntary health insurance.

Abstract

AFEW years ago, a discussion of health insurance would have started with a statement as to the unpredictable nature of illness, the uneven distribution of medical costs among families, and the consequent need for insurance against unexpected medical bills. Today, there is little, if any, need for going into these why's of health insurance. Both the public and the professions concerned have accepted the fact that people should have advance protection against medical costs. The points now at issue are, What form should health insurance take? and What services should be covered? Two major forms have been proposed, both involving the prepayment principle-one, that membership in a prepayment health program be compulsory; the other, that membership be voluntary. In its broader sense, the term voluntary health insurance can be used to denote both disability insurance, which provides reimbursement for wage loss in the event of illness, and medical care insurance which protects members against the direct cost of illness. The term, however, is now more commonly used to refer to medical care insurance,