From Sickness to Health. The Twentieth-Century Development of the Demand for Health Insurance

Health insurance in the United States encompasses a unique blend of private, employment-based insurance for the majority of the population, with governmental provision of insurance for the indigent and the aged. About one in seven Americans is uninsured. Yet despite the complexity of the U.S. system of health insurance, little is known about its institutional development. This dissertation examines the factors underlying the institutional development 0f U.S. health insurance. What forces contributed to the unique pattern of development of private health insurance in the United States? How and why did the provision of health insurance in the United States evolve as a largely private, employment-based system? This knowledge is crucial to the development of modern health policy. Without understanding the nature of the health-insurance market and its development over time, and without knowledge of how past government policies shaped and influenced the market, modern policymakers cannot make fully informed decisions. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]