1950's Medicine and Health | "Private Expenditures for Medical Care and for Voluntary Health Insurance: 1950 to 1958"

Table

By: U.S. Department of Commerce

Date: 1960

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce. Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1960. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1960, 75.

About the Organization: Congress created the U.S. Department of Commerce and Labor in 1903, separating the Commerce and Labor departments in 1913. Congress authorized the first census in 1790, creating an Office of Census in 1902 and later adding it to the Department of Commerce. Under the direction of the department, the Census Bureau publishes the annual Statistical Abstract of the United States.

Introduction

Health care costs grew faster than the costs of other goods and services during the 1950s. Between 1950 and 1957, the rise in medical costs outstripped that of food by 250 percent, of housing by 160 percent, and of total living expenses by 175 percent. One did not need to look...