Physicians' Autonomy versus the Great Depression.

The traditional forms of medical practice in the United States evolved during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Individual doctors cared for the sick and regulated their fees according to their patients' ability to pay. There were few group practices and fewer prepaid medical plans. This individualized fee-for-service system did not always provide economic security for the physician since it also rested on his ability to charge and to collect his fees. But it did mean that physicians had full control over their profession, with no other organization able to dictate their income and conditions of practice. This was a powerful tradition for the medical profession and one that they feared losing. American health insurance had been a political issue ever since World War I, after nearly all the major European countries had adopted programs. In the United States, what prepaid...