Unpredictable Costs Research Articles

Prepayment Medical Care Organizations

In spite of the fact that a relatively small proportion of the entire population is eligible for medical care of any type under prepayment medical care organizations, discussion of pending federal and state health insurance legislation has raised many questions. In addition to questions on the extent to which people of this country have sought protection from the unpredictable costs of illness through membership in voluntary health insurance plans, discussion also centers on the medical personnel now associated with these plans, the extent to which more or less com? prehensive medical services are provided, the restrictions on membership which the plans have found it necessary to impose to guard against adverse selection and the recent trends in industrial and medical society plans. This paper attempts to summarize recent information on these points. The war has had a pronounced effect on prepayment medical care organizations. The recruitment of doctors, dentists, nurses and laboratory technicians for the armed forces and the resulting shortage among practitioners left to care for the civilian population have forced existing organizations to discourage use of their facilities except for the more serious conditions, have made it impossible for some organizations to accept new members and have postponed the establishment of many proposed new plans.