Abstract: Before World War I, doctors not only made house calls, they sometimes took chickens in payment. Or, if the chicken wouldn't do, people paid their small medical bills in cash. For catastrophic illnesses, charitable organizations would generally foot the bill. Only thirty years ago, health care costs consumed a modest 5% of our gross national product, about on the same level as other Western nations. Few people had, or needed, health insurance. All that has changed.
Publication Year: 1994
Publication Date: 1994-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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