Abstract
Insurance exists to protect enrollees against their financial exposure to catastrophically high-cost low-probability events. Indeed, health insurance began as sickness funds, where workers made weekly contributions to a fund that would temporarily provide a reduced wage to those too ill to work. A more familiar form of health insurance emerged near the start of the Great Depression, when Baylor University Hospital enrolled 1250 Dallas schoolteachers into a health plan that would provide up to 21 days of hospital care in exchange for a $0.50 monthly premium. Today, health insurance is a multitrillion dollar a year industry with both private and public elements that covers more than 90% of US citizens.
Citation
Hyman DA, Letchuman S, Bai G. Health Insurance Coverage—Is Broader Always Better? JAMA Intern Med. 2024;184(3):233–234. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.7112
