Voluntary Insurance Against Sickness, 1949 Estimates

The extent and value of voluntary insurance against sickness may be assessed in terms of the number of persons and families with such insurance or in terms of the proportion of costs, due to sickness, that are met by the voluntary plans. There is no satisfactory information on the number of different individuals covered, but estimates of the proportion of sickness costs met by voluntary plans can be made. The BULLETIN for JanuaryFebruary 1950 contained an appraisal of the protection afforded by voluntary insurance against the income loss and medical costs incurred because of sickness in the calendar year 1948. That article, prepared in the Division of Research and Statistics, included a discussion of the various kinds of voluntary insurance and developed in some detail the methodology used and the rationale behind the estimating procedures. Similar estimates have been developed for the calendar year 1949, the latest year for which the necessary data are available.