The History Of Health Insurance
Insurance of various types is not new. There are records of people insuring their goods thousands of years ago with those trusting their possessions to transport by sea being perfect examples of traders and merchants seeking protection. And health is also an ancient field or area in which insurance has been active. An interesting twist to the early health claims saw the patient electing to pay according to results. If the doctor did a brilliant job, he was paid more. If he didn"t, the patient paid less if at all. And for hospitals in ancient times, substitute the home. Quacks and serious physicians alike usually performed their services in the home of the patient.
But it wasn"t until the early 1900s that health insurance became seriously well organised. This was mainly because medical care was becoming a structured and major business and once there were business models for hospitals coupled with advances in medical science, health insurance became a natural consequence.
As wars have continued since time began, it is not surprising to note that some of the first so-called health insurance policies were drawn up during the American Civil War. They covered accidents and it wasn"t the soldiers who got cover but citizens who chose to travel in a war zone. If their transport crashed or sank, the insured were entitled to financial compensation.
Politicians and prominent citizens had long debated how, if at all, governments should become involved in the health care of its citizens. Britain in 1911 saw the passing of legislation called the National Insurance Act and by then the term "health insurance" had become part of the language.
The first areas covered under health insurance were sickness and disability with both being strongly tied to employment. If a worker was too ill to work or was injured and disabled at work, workers were given financial help. It meant workers making regular payments into what some called a "sickness fund".
It"s hard to believe that it"s only about 100 years ago that medicine saw the need for a healthy environment in which to conduct operations and medical specialists came into their own. Before the early 1900s, bacteria was a major threat to a patient and most doctors were a sort of jack of all trades. With expensive hospitals and specialist surgeons, fees rose and to afford these costs, patients demanded health insurance. Life expectancy rose in line with the increasing costs and insurers offered more and different policies to suit the needs of patients. Health insurance was off and running.
Labour unions played a significant role in establishing schemes whereby their members were guaranteed health insurance regardless of their illness or injury. Governments stepped in and established national health cover and even doctors established funds to help ensure they were "properly" reimbursed for their services.
Health insurance had a long and ragged beginning but has become a giant in the world of insurance today.
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