Private Health Insurance in 1972: Health Care Services, Enrollment, and Finances

Newly established health matntenance orgamzations joined the traditional private answers in 1972 to bring some protection against the costs of hospitalization und survey to about three-fourths of the civilian population Lesser numbers were covered for other kinds of health care costs. This article reports that private insurance met only $2 percent of consumer expenditures for all personal health care aervzces and only 7 percent of expenditures other than those for hospital care and physicians’ services Insurance companies had about 60 percent of the gross enrollment in all private health insurance organizations. Blue Cross-Blue Shield plans held about 95 percent, wath the renaaandcr tlrstributed among the zndependent community, employer-employce-union, and private group clinic plan,s Roughly 7 million persons were receiving health care services an 1972 from HMO prototypes an& from newly established HMO’s. In 1972, premium and subscraption income of private insurers rose faster than claims. Private insures collected $92.9 billion an premiums (14 percent more than in 1971) but paid out only 10 percent more in benefits and clarma-$l3.5 b&ion. The difference of $28 ballion is the net cost of private health insurance retained bg the carriers to cover operating expenses, profits, and additaons to reserves.