Posted by one of my fav HP posters. [View all]

[kelliekat44]

What we now call "public assistance" was established in every colony early in its history in the form of "general assistance," under the old English designation of "poor relief." That also was done in the later States, in their earliest days. The principle that when people have no other means of subsistence they must be supported from public funds has always been a part of the American way of life.

In the first years of the 1930's, the principle was established that the relief of the needy is a responsibility of government at all levels. State governments came to the rescue in 1931; the National Government with the enactment of the emergency relief act of July 1932.

From 1933 on, the National Government carried the major responsibility until passage of Social Security. It was created as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal with the signing of the Social Security Act of 1935 on August 14, 1935.

The Committee on Economic Security would make a later report to the Social Security Board to study the need for and possibility of improving the social security protection of Americans, including, among other methods, health insurance.

This report led to the false belief that the Administration was secretly trying to foist compulsory health insurance on the country. Immediately, the members of the Ways and Means Committee, then considering the social security bill in executive sessions, were deluged with telegrams from all parts of the country protesting against this "nefarious plot."