The Evolution of Health Insurance in America

This chapter explores the transformation of American healthcare through the lens of modernization, particularly in the 1930s and during World War II. It examines the rise of private health insurance, spearheaded by the Blue Cross program, and the challenges it faced from the American Medical Association and the political landscape of the era. The chapter highlights how healthcare access evolved into an employee benefit driven by wartime labor demands and the struggles of marginalized citizens to obtain adequate medical care.