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"Un-American" or unnecessary? America's rejection of compulsory government health insurance in the Progressive Era

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  • Emery, J.C. Herbert

Abstract

Between 1915 and 1920, 18 U.S. states considered the introduction of compulsory health insurance. Progressive reformers expected state health insurance to be welfare enhancing for American wage-workers since it would result in lower cost insurance and an extension of coverage to more of the population. The evidence presented in this paper indicates that the absence of broad political support for health insurance legislation in this early period reflects that compulsory insurance would not have improved on what was available and affordable through voluntary arrangements and had the potential to reduce the welfare of wage-earners.

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  • Emery, J.C. Herbert, 2010. ""Un-American" or unnecessary? America's rejection of compulsory government health insurance in the Progressive Era," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 68-81, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:exehis:v:47:y:2010:i:1:p:68-81
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. J.C. Herbert Emery, 2010. "Understanding the Political Economy of the Evolution and Future of Single-Payer Public Health Insurance in Canada," SPP Briefing Papers, The School of Public Policy, University of Calgary, vol. 3(2), February.
    3. David A. Green, 2014. "What Is a Minimum Wage For? Empirical Results and Theories of Justice," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 40(4), pages 293-314, December.
    4. Vincent Geloso & Raymond J. March, 2021. "Rent seeking for madness: the political economy of mental asylums in the United States, 1870 to 1910," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 189(3), pages 375-404, December.
    5. Kota Ogasawara, 2018. "Consumption smoothing in the working-class households of interwar Japan," Papers 1807.05737, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2024.
    6. Lars Fredrik Andersson & Liselotte Eriksson, 2013. "Compulsory public pension and the demand for life insurance: the case of Sweden," Working Papers 13030, Economic History Society.

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