Welfare. Before the welfare state by
Joshua Fulton, many people think life without the welfare state
would be chaos in their minds. Nobody would help support the
less fortunate and there would be riots in the streets.
Little do they know that people found innovative ways of
supporting each other before the welfare state existed.
One of the most important of these ways was the mutual Aid
Society Mutual Aid. Also known as fraternal ISM
refers to social organizations that gather dues and paid
benefits to members facing hardship.
According to David B, 0 from Mutual Aid to the welfare state.
There was a great stigma attached to accepting government
Aid or private charity, during the late, 18th and early 19th
centuries, Mutual Aid on the other hand did not carry the
same stigma. It was based on reciprocity, 's
today's Mutual Aid, Sippy and could be tomorrow's, donor and
vice versa. Mutual Aid was particularly
popular among the poor and working class.
For instance, in New York City, in 1909, forty percent of
families, earning less than a thousand dollars a year.
Little more than the living wage had members who were in mutual
Aid societies, ethnicity. However, was an even greater
predictor of mutual Aid membership than income.
The new immigrants such as Germans Bohemians and Russians,
many of whom were Jews participated in Mutual Aid,
societies at approximately twice.
The rate of native whites and six times.
The rate of the Irish. This may have been due to new
immigrants need for an enhanced societal safety.
Net by the 1920s. At least one out of every three
males was a member of a mutual Aid Society.
Members of societies carried over 9 billion dollars worth of
life, insurance by 1920 during the same period lodges.
Dominated the field of health insurance, numerous lodges,
offered unemployment benefits. Some black fraternal Lodge has
taking note of the nature of African-American employment at
the time, allowed members to receive unemployment benefits,
even if they were up to six months behind in dues.
Under Lodge medicine. The price for Health Care was
low members. Typically paid two dollars about
a day's wage to have yearly access to Doctors Care.
Minor surgery was frequently included in this fee.
Nan Lodge members. Typically paid about two dollars
every doctor's visit during this time period.
Low prices for Lodges did not, however necessarily translate to
low-quality the independent order of Foresters.
One of the largest Mutual Aid societies frequently.
Touted that the mortality rate of its membership was 6.66 per
thousand much lower than the 9.3 per thousand for the general
population. Rogers also had incentives to
keep costs down. For instance.
The ladies friends of Faith benevolent Association a black
female society would pay Members taken ill two dollars a week.
If they saw the lodge doctor and three dollars, if they didn't a
visiting committee, also checked on the claimant to guard against
false claims members, who fail to visit.
The claimant were fined. $1 Mutual Aid societies also
enforced more Codes in 1892, the Connecticut Bureau of Labor
Statistics found that societies followed the invariable rule of
denying benefits for any sickness or other disability
originating from intemperance vicious or immoral conduct many
societies, refuse to pay benefits for any injury
sustained in the participation of a riot.
Some lodges even denied membership to Who who,
manufactured explosives or played?
Professional football? Many Mutual Aid societies,
branched out and founded their own hospitals and sanitariums
the Securities, benefit Association or SBA charge $21
for an 11-day. Stay at their Hospital in
Kansas. While the average at 100 private
hospitals. Was $72 again, quality was not
necessarily sacrificed for price at the sba's sanitarium, the
mortality. Ality rate was 4.5 percent.
While the historical average for sanitariums was 25%, This is
especially impressive considering that 30 to 50
percent of all cases admitted to the sba's sanitarium were
advanced. A large number of African
American societies also created their own hospitals.
In the early 20th century. It was not a given that
African-Americans would be admitted into many hospitals.
If they were, they frequently had to face such indignities as
being forced to bring their own eating utensils.
Sheets and toothbrushes to pay for a black nurse.
If none was on staff when the knights and Daughters of Tabor
in Mississippi a black fraternal With a reach across only a few
counties opened tab borean Hospital in 1942 membership.
Nearly doubled in three years to 47,000 Mutual Aid societies.
Also founded 71 orphanages between 1890 and 1920 to almost
all without government subsidy. Perhaps the largest of these was
moose heart founded by the Loyal Order of Moose in.
Eighteen hundreds of children live there.
At the time. It had a student newspaper to
debate teams, three theatrical organizations and a small radio
station. The success of moose heart
alumni was remarkable alumni were four times more likely than
the general population to have attended institutions of Higher
Learning male alumni earned 71 percent more than the national
average and female alumni earned it 63 percent more.
Of course, with so many services being supplied by Mutual Aid
societies, many groups had reason to Lobby government for
its destruction. The first major blow against for
eternalism occurred. When the American Medical
Association gained control of the licensing of medical schools
in 1920. A number of State Medical
boards, formed the Federation of State Medical boards, which
accepted amas ratings of medical schools, as Authoritative the
AMA quickly rated many schools as unacceptable.
Consequently the number of medical schools in America
dropped from 166 and 1904 281 in 1918, a 51% drop the increased
price of Medical Services, made it impractical for many Lodgers
to retain the services of a doctor medical boards.
Also threatened many doctors with being stripped of their
licenses. If they practiced Lodge
medicine. The next most damaging piece of
legislation was the mobile law. The mobile law required, that
Mutual Aid societies, show a gradual Improvement in reserves
until this time. Societies had tended to keep low
reserves in order to pay the maximum benefits possible to
members. High, reserve requirements made
it difficult for societies to undercut, traditional insurance
companies. The mobile law also required a
doctor's Examination for All Lodge members and forbade all
speculative Enterprises such as the extension of credit, by
members by 1919. The mobile law had been enacted
in 40 States. The requirement that all members
undergo, a medical examination, effectively barred, Mutual Aid
societies from the growing Group Insurance Market.
Group Insurance is Insurance offered to a large group of
people such as employees at a company without a medical
examination from 1915 to 1920. A number of people insured under
group policies, Rose from 99,000 to 1.6 million, some lodges such
as Arkansas's Grand Lodge of the Ancient Order of workmen tried
to get around the medical examination, requirement by
offering Group insurance at a higher price than normal Lodge
coverage, but this put them at a competitive disadvantage.
Mutual Aid was hindered in other ways, lodges were prohibited
from providing coverage for children.
This opened the door for commercial companies to offer
industrial policies in which children's coverage was
standard. The number of industrial
policies Rose from 1.4 million. In 1902 7.1 million in 1920 by
1925 industrial policies. Surpassed.
The number of fraternal policies group, medical insurance.
Also eventually became Tax deductible while private plans.
Such as those purchase through a lodge, did not.
Fraternal hospitals also came under attack during the 1960s,
the regulation of hospitals increased to borean hospital.
In Mississippi was cited for an adequate storage and bed space
failure to install doors, that could swing in either direction.
And excessive Reliance on uncertified, Personnel, a state
hospital, regulator said of the tube Orion hospital.
We are consistently told that you do not have Funds to do
these things. Make improvements yet.
If you ought to operate a hospital, something has to be
done to meet the minimum standards of operation for
Mississippi hospitals, the hill Burton Hospital.
Construction Act of 1946. Also hurt many fraternal
hospitals, especially black hospitals.
The ACT required that hospitals, receiving federal funds, use a
portion for Indigent care and that That Services be offered
without discrimination on account of race Creed or color.
Although this enabled many blacks to get free service at
hospitals, previously, unavailable to them.
It also cut into the membership based for black fraternal
hospitals. Additionally some hospitals such
as to borean hospital and the friendship clinic in Mississippi
received, no funds. While they're nearby
competitors, received Millions. The Advent of Medicare.
Also hastened, the Of fraternal hospitals, MIT Economist aiming
Finkelstein, estimated that Medicare drove a 28% increase in
hospital spending between 1965 and 1970 by encouraging
hospitals, to adopt new medical Technologies.
Smaller hospitals, such as many fraternal hospitals were not
able to adopt new technologies as quickly as larger hospitals
and were driven out of the market.
Another Finding supported by Finkelstein some, fraternal
societies escape the attack of the state, by converting into
traditional Insurance corporation's.
Both Prudential and Metropolitan Life, have their origins in
fraternal ISM, many societies. However, simply died off.
Although millions of Americans are still members of fraternal
societies such as the Masons or the Odd Fellows, the
organizations, no longer have the importance in society.
They once did the history of fraternal ISM serves as a
reminder of the power of human cooperation in a free Society.