Organized Labor and the Prepaid Group Practice Movement

Abstract

With the growing awareness of a crisis in health care provision in this country, proposals for universal financing and more effective organization of medical care have been presented in Congress.

Prepaid group practice has gained prominence under the name of Health Maintenance Organization (HMO), a term coined by the Nixon Administration. Organized labor is strongly in favor of this legislation, and has already been instrumental in important changes in the financing and organization of medical care for its members and other employed persons.

For the last 25 years, union leadership has been struggling with employers, insurance plans, and providers for more effective medical care provision, and through this process has become more and more a spokesman for the general public. This important social responsibility requires organized labor to be well informed and to speak conscientiously in the public interest.