Public Medical Care

Competing Plans for Expansion of Medical Care

Beginning with the publication in 1932 of a notable study on the costs of medical care, numerous investigations conducted under private and government auspices during the last 14 years have shown the need of improved health services for the people of the United States. The medical skills and equipment available in this country are the equal of those found anywhere in the world, but they have remained beyond the means of a large part of the population and inaccessible to many persons living in rural areas.1

Maldistribution of medical services was aggravated by the long depression of the 1930's and by the subsequent mobilization of physicians for service with the armed forces. During war years, the high percentage of ...