Great Britain, national system 1911 (was voluntary 1875-1911).

Sec. 10. #Need of sick-insurance in America#. Contrary to the usual
opinion in America, the sick-insurance in Germany is, both in amount
of contributions collected and in importance to the welfare of the
workers and their families, of more importance than is either accident
compensation or the system of invalidity pensions. Yet, thus far, our
interest and efforts in America have been directed almost entirely
toward the reform of accident compensation and almost everything
remains to be done in the matter of social insurance against sickness.
It is true that in recent years there has been a rapid development,
in some of the larger cities, of medical insurance clubs conducted by
private companies, with dues of ten cents weekly. They give medical
care in ordinary cases, but require extra payments for surgical
treatment and for medical supplies. They as yet touch only the
outer fringe of the problem, but they testify to the need and to the
increasing desire of the wage-workers for insurance of this kind. It
is believed that at least 4 per cent of the income of wage-workers
now is expended for the care of sickness and for burial insurance. The
losses of wages meantime remain unequalized by insurance indemnities.
A large proportion of the cases of temporary destitution in ordinarily
self-supporting families is due to sickness. The German experience
shows that 4 per cent of wages, collected in part from employers and
in part from wage-workers, is sufficient to give a far better medical
service than can be had through private effort, to give some indemnity
for loss of wages, and to carry on a very useful hygienic work for the
families and for the public health.

Sec. 11. #Old-age and invalidity pensions#. Insurance to provide pensions
for old-age and permanent (partial or total) disability is in nature
but an extension of the insurance against accident and sickness. In
a relatively small number of cases accidents result in permanent
disability and it is both illogical and inhumane to limit,
arbitrarily, the compensation in such cases to a certain period,
as two or three years, as is done in many compensation laws. The
disability due to advancing years is in nature a chronic illness,
inevitable, sooner or later, to all who survive. The movement to
provide some indemnity in such cases has been rapid in European
countries, doubtless because the problem was a very