Voluntary Health Insurance: Selected Annotated References

Excerpts from the Preface: Voluntary health insurance is becoming widespread in the United States as a means of paying for hospital, surgical, and medical care. Although a large proportion of the persons insured are in urban areas, increasing numbers of rural people are using prepayment plans to help meet the costs of illness. Voluntary health insurance involves the following carriers: (1) Non-profit agencies, such as Blue Cross and Blue Shield; (2) insurance companies; and (3) independent plans including consumer cooperatives. As generally defined, health insurance does not include disability insurance (payments for wage loss during sickness), workmen’s compensation, incidental medical care riders on various kinds of insurance policies, or health facilities and services provided in industrial plants for the preservation of workers’ health on the job. This list of publications was prepared as a necessary aid to current research relating to voluntary health insurance in the United States, particularly in rural areas. Although information on rural people is found in a number of the "general" references, material dealing primarily with rural people is listed under "rural." Only a few references were selected from the great number giving arguments for or against voluntary versus compulsory health insurance. A few reports on the health program of the former Farm Security Administration are included.