Why Did Americans Reject Compulsory Health Insurance after WWI? An Application of the Lifecycle Model

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ECRI.2012.231473.pdf (541.75 KB)

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2012-01-19

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Progressive reformers failed to gain support to implement compulsory health insurance in the US after WWI. Modeling results presented in this paper, using a lifecycle model with sickness risk and precautionary savings, support the conclusion that existing voluntary insurance plans were adequate and welfare-enhancing in the US, that compulsory health insurance as proposed would not be welfare-enhancing, and that Americans' preference to self-insure during most of their working lives was rational, utility-maximizing behaviour.

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Stuart J. Wilson and J. C. Herbert Emery, “Why Did Americans Reject Compulsory Health Insurance after WWI? An Application of the Lifecycle Model,” Economics Research International, vol. 2012, Article ID 231473, 10 pages, 2012. doi:10.1155/2012/231473

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http://hdl.handle.net/1880/108382
 https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/45884

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