Insurance, broadly speaking, is designed to protect someone from loss and has been used in different forms since the second millennium BC. As medical knowledge became more advanced it also became more valuable. Medical practitioners soon moved from practicing medicine in their homes to a centralized medical practice. As time went on, physicians became more knowledgeable and specialized. In order to further their research resources were necessary and expenses started to accrue. Because of the expenses necessary for the medical advances the cost of medical services started to rise.
Individual “health” insurance plans started around the Civil War. At that time these plans were referred to as “accident insurance”. The accident insurance was used to provide coverage for injuries caused by travel on the railroad or a steamboat. Accident insurance soon spread into a type of coverage referred to in the U.S. as “sickness insurance”. Sickness insurance was more closely related to today’s disability insurance. Sickness insurance would supplement income for those who were chronically ill or disabled.
In 1911 the British passed their National Insurance Act and coined the phrase “health insurance”. Still around the 1920’s health insurance was not frequently purchased because many did not feel that the state of medical technology was at any point in which it would be beneficial to receive health care outside of their homes, which is what health insurance tended to cover. In 1929 a few Dallas-based teachers came together with a local hospital and proposed to receive a set amount of sick and hospital days for a fixed, prepaid rate. Prepaid hospital visits became very popular especially during the Depression, proving to be beneficial for both sides during hard economic times.
The American Hospital Association became to create a financial community in order to benefit their association and their patients. The hospitals that came together in this community did so under the name Blue Cross. The medical and the judicial world started to cross paths more frequently on the issues of health care and the government started to encourage individuals and businesses to develop prepaid plans with their employer or organizations such as Blue Cross.
The market started to grow and in 1965 Congress enacted Medicare and Medicaid. Things boomed from their and between then and now there have been many stumbling blocks in the health care world. The long running debate between privately held health care or government funded health care raged on and we have now reached where we are today… which is just as chaotic as it has ever been.
With all of the medical technology coming out every day it is difficult for health care to keep up in order to adequately protect all of the consumers and their needs. With the ever changing world of health care and medical technology it is important to have a resource to reach out to in order to help you, your family, or your small business find the coverage that is affordable and adequate for the needs of yourself and those important to you.
In 1911 the British passed their National Insurance Act and coined the phrase “health insurance”. Still around the 1920’s health insurance was not frequently purchased because many did not feel that the state of medical technology was at any point in which it would be beneficial to receive health care outside of their homes, which is what health insurance tended to cover. In 1929 a few Dallas-based teachers came together with a local hospital and proposed to receive a set amount of sick and hospital days for a fixed, prepaid rate. Prepaid hospital visits became very popular especially during the Depression, proving to be beneficial for both sides during hard economic times.
The American Hospital Association became to create a financial community in order to benefit their association and their patients. The hospitals that came together in this community did so under the name Blue Cross. The medical and the judicial world started to cross paths more frequently on the issues of health care and the government started to encourage individuals and businesses to develop prepaid plans with their employer or organizations such as Blue Cross.
The market started to grow and in 1965 Congress enacted Medicare and Medicaid. Things boomed from their and between then and now there have been many stumbling blocks in the health care world. The long running debate between privately held health care or government funded health care raged on and we have now reached where we are today… which is just as chaotic as it has ever been.
With all of the medical technology coming out every day it is difficult for health care to keep up in order to adequately protect all of the consumers and their needs. With the ever changing world of health care and medical technology it is important to have a resource to reach out to in order to help you, your family, or your small business find the coverage that is affordable and adequate for the needs of yourself and those important to you.
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