Navigating the Health Insurance Landscape by Robert Adziashvili - HTML preview

Navigating the Health Insurance Landscape

The history of Healthcare in America

The hi st o ry o f heal t hc are i n Ameri c a i s a st o ry t hat span s man y years an d i s fi l l ed wi t h si gn i fi c an t c han ges. In t he earl y days o f t he c o un t ry, heal t hc are was o ft en pro v i ded by fami l y members o r smal l c o mmun i t y gro ups. As t he n at i o n grew, so di d t he n eed fo r mo re fo rmal i z ed heal t hc are syst ems.

In t he l at e 1 80 0 s, ho spi t al s began t o emerge as pl ac es where peo pl e c o ul d rec ei v e medi c al c are. These ho spi t al s were o ft en run by rel i gi o us o rgan i z at i o n s o r c hari t abl e gro ups. Ho wev er, heal t hc are was st i l l l argel y i n ac c essi bl e fo r man y Ameri c an s, espec i al l y t ho se who were po o r o r l i v i n g i n rural areas.

The earl y 2 0 t h c en t ury saw sev eral i mpo rt an t dev el o pmen t s i n Ameri c an heal t hc are. The Ameri c an Medi c al Asso c i at i o n was est abl i shed i n 1 84 7 t o pro mo t e medi c al educ at i o n an d st an dards o f prac t i c e. In 1 935 , t he S o c i al S ec uri t y Ac t was passed, whi c h pro v i ded so me Heal t h Care ben efi t s t o el derl y an d di sabl ed i n di v i dual s.

The years fo l l o wi n g Wo rl d War II bro ught abo ut si gn i fi c an t c han ges i n heal t hc are. In 1 94 6, Presi den t Harry Truman pro po sed a n at i o n al heal t h i n suran c e pro gram, but i t was met wi t h st ro n g o ppo si t i o n an d di d n o t bec o me l aw. Ho wev er, empl o yer-spo n so red heal t h i n suran c e bec ame mo re c o mmo n duri n g t hi s t i me, wi t h c o mpan i es o fferi n g heal t hc are ben efi t s as a way t o att rac t an d ret ai n wo rk ers.