The Wages of Sickness: The Politics of Health Insurance in Progressive America (Studies in Social Medicine)

The Clinton administration's failed health care reform was not the first attempt to establish government-sponsored medical coverage in the United States. From 1915 to 1920, Progressive reformers led a spirited but ultimately unsuccessful crusade for compulsory health insurance in New York State. Beatrix Hoffman argues that this first health insurance campaign was a crucial moment in the creation of the American welfare state and health care system. Its defeat, she says, gave rise to an uneven and inegalitarian system of medical coverage and helped shape the limits of American social policy for the rest of the century. Hoffman examines each of the major combatants in the battle over compulsory health insurance. While physicians, employers, the insurance industry, and conservative politicians forged a uniquely powerful coalition in opposition to health insurance proposals, she shows, reformers' potential allies within women's organizations and the labor movement were bitterly divided. Against the backdrop of World War I and the Red Scare, opponents of reform denounced government-sponsored health insurance as "un-American" and, in the process, helped fashion a political culture that resists proposals for universal health care and a comprehensive welfare state even today. Preface......Page 10 Acknowledgments......Page 12 Abbreviations......Page 14 Introduction......Page 18 Notes......Page 207 1. Patchwork Protection: The Specter of Sickness and Poverty......Page 23 Notes......Page 208 2. Crafting a Solution to the Sickness Problem: The American Association for Labor Legislation......Page 41 Notes......Page 214 3. A Dose of Prussianism: European Origins and American Identities......Page 62 Notes......Page 219 4. The Worst Insult to the Greatest Profession: Medical Practitioners and Health Insurance......Page 85 Notes......Page 223 5. Moneyed Interests: Employers and Insurance Companies Against Compulsory Health Insurance......Page 109 Notes......Page 229 6. The House of Labor Divided......Page 132 Notes......Page 233 7. Insuring Maternity: Women's Politics and the Campaign for Health Insurance......Page 154 Notes......Page 238 8. The Politics of Defeat......Page 180 Notes......Page 243 Epilogue......Page 198 Notes......Page 247 Abbreviations......Page 206 Bibliography......Page 250 Index......Page 264 Patchwork Protection: The Specter Of Sickness And Poverty -- Crafting A Solution To The Sickness Problem: The American Association For Labor Legislation -- A Dose Of Prussianism: European Origins And American Identities -- The Worst Insult To The Greatest Profession: Medical Practitioners And Health Insurance -- Moneyed Interests: Employers And Insurance Companies Against Compulsory Health Insurance -- The House Of Labor Divided -- Insuring Maternity: Women's Politics And The Campaign For Health Insurance -- The Politics Of Defeat. Beatrix Hoffman. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [233]-245) And Index. From 1915 to 1920, Progressive reformers led a spirited but unsuccessful crusade for compulsory health insurance in New York State. Beatrix Hoffman shows that this first health insurance campaign was a crucial moment in the creation of the American welfare state and health care system Ever since arriving in New York from Germany in 1882, Emil Bollhausen had followed his trade as a cabinetmaker.