Medicine In The 1920's
Medicine of the Roaring Twenties
“The Roaring Twenties,” when those three words are heard what comes to mind? Probably flappers, prohibition, or gangsters quickly come to mind, but what about Band-Aids, insulin, or health insurance. Many life changing and lifesaving discoveries in medicine occurred in the 1920s. Some of the amazing discoveries were insulin for the treatment of diabetes, the Band-Aid for healing wounds, and the iron lung for the treatment of polio. To keep up with these new medicines and treatments, the medical universities had to revamp their entry requirements and curriculum. Health insurance was developed to help defray the increase in costs of seeking medical treatment. The advancements during the 1920s in the medical …show more content…
During the 1920s an estimated 4% of the gross domestic product was consumed by health care. Of that 4%, “The amount spent for physician services was the largest portion, accounting for 29.8¢ of each dollar, followed by hospital care 23.4¢, medications 18.2¢, dental care 12.2¢, and nursing care 5.5¢” (Gore). On average, a family with an annual income of $1700 was spending about $68 per year for medical expenses. Several Families were unable to afford the cost of the new medicines and treatments until Dr. Justin Kimball, an administrator at Baylor University Hospital in Dallas, Texas, devised a health insurance plan, “He realized that many schoolteachers were not paying their medical bills. In response to this problem, he developed the Baylor Plan – teachers were to pay 50 cents per month in exchange for the guarantee that they could receive medical services for up to 21 days of any one year” (Zhou). Dr. Kimball’s plan served as a model for the later Blue Cross plans. These pre-paid health insurance plans not only allowed families to receive medical treatment they also, “Benefited hospitals by giving them steady income despite economic turmoil. However, these single-hospital plans also generated price competition, and to avoid this, community hospitals started to work together in creating health coverage plans” (Zhou). With health insurance easing the burden of paying for medical care this allowed families to seek medical attention they needed and also assured hospitals that the medial care provided would be paid
“The Roaring Twenties,” when those three words are heard what comes to mind? Probably flappers, prohibition, or gangsters quickly come to mind, but what about Band-Aids, insulin, or health insurance. Many life changing and lifesaving discoveries in medicine occurred in the 1920s. Some of the amazing discoveries were insulin for the treatment of diabetes, the Band-Aid for healing wounds, and the iron lung for the treatment of polio. To keep up with these new medicines and treatments, the medical universities had to revamp their entry requirements and curriculum. Health insurance was developed to help defray the increase in costs of seeking medical treatment. The advancements during the 1920s in the medical …show more content…
During the 1920s an estimated 4% of the gross domestic product was consumed by health care. Of that 4%, “The amount spent for physician services was the largest portion, accounting for 29.8¢ of each dollar, followed by hospital care 23.4¢, medications 18.2¢, dental care 12.2¢, and nursing care 5.5¢” (Gore). On average, a family with an annual income of $1700 was spending about $68 per year for medical expenses. Several Families were unable to afford the cost of the new medicines and treatments until Dr. Justin Kimball, an administrator at Baylor University Hospital in Dallas, Texas, devised a health insurance plan, “He realized that many schoolteachers were not paying their medical bills. In response to this problem, he developed the Baylor Plan – teachers were to pay 50 cents per month in exchange for the guarantee that they could receive medical services for up to 21 days of any one year” (Zhou). Dr. Kimball’s plan served as a model for the later Blue Cross plans. These pre-paid health insurance plans not only allowed families to receive medical treatment they also, “Benefited hospitals by giving them steady income despite economic turmoil. However, these single-hospital plans also generated price competition, and to avoid this, community hospitals started to work together in creating health coverage plans” (Zhou). With health insurance easing the burden of paying for medical care this allowed families to seek medical attention they needed and also assured hospitals that the medial care provided would be paid