Those who have studied the possibilities believe that this sum is sufficient to provide good individual care for all the people and to reimburse the physicians adequately. The problem, therefore, is to develop a plan to collect this sum in a manner consistent with the individual's ability to pay and then to spend it so that good medical care will be available to all the contributors. Obviously there will always be some who cannot contribute and must accept charity, and of course provision will be made for them. Because tax-supported medical care is usually associated with charity, and because the reception of charity is repugnant to most Americans, the trend is to develop the needed funds by the insurance principle. Radical changes in the insurance programs are necessary if we are to extend coverage to that more than 75 per cent of the population which for one reason or another does not have medical insurance.
Insurance plans already in existence cover the costs of medical care in varying degrees.
Most of them, if properly managed, are successful, but unfortunately they include less than a quarter of our population, and the benefits in most instances fall far short of complete medical care. The evidence is conclusive that voluntary prepayment insurance plans will not be able to provide medical care for the great majority of our citizens. It cannot rescue from medical indigency the great mass of people who now frequent our charity or tax-supported clinics. It will not provide complete service to the tremendous number of people who for one reason or another do not get good medical care today. Its cost is too high.