ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author, Arthur Newsholme, presents his thoughts on insurance for medical care. An important difference between the conclusions of the Majority and the Minority on the principle of unification of administration of provision for the sick, though both agreed in recommending the abolition of the Boards of Guardians and the transfer of their work to the Councils of Counties and County Boroughs, to be undertaken by Committees of these bodies. The German system of insurance against sickness was becoming widely known and appreciated: and for some years agitation in favour of pensions for the aged poor had been spreading. Several committees had already sat on this subject, and in 1908 Mr. Asquith, the Prime Minister of England, introduced the first scheme for giving old age pensions to persons aged 70 and over on a non-contributory basis, subject to certain income limitations. This was the first considerable supersession of Poor Law relief.
