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WUBL

WUBL (94.9 FM) is a commercial radio station known as 94-9 The Bull. It is owned by iHeartMedia and it plays a country music radio format. The studios and offices are located at the Peachtree Palisades Building in the Brookwood Hills district of Atlanta. It has local DJs in the daytime and at nighttime it carries two syndicated Premiere Networks country music programs, The Bobby Bones Show and After MidNite With Granger Smith. The station's radio transmitter is located just northeast of Atlanta near Druid Hills Road in North Druid Hills, with several other stations.

Along with WSB-FM, this station is the primary entry point (PEP) for Emergency Alert System messages for the state of Georgia. In an emergency, the two stations receive alerts via secure networks directly from the U.S. president, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, and the National Weather Service. All other radio and television stations and cable TV systems in metro Atlanta must monitor these two stations at all times with their EAS equipment. Alerts are then relayed across the state by other stations.

Religious (1962–1972)
The station began on October 24, 1962, as religious WAVQ (changed to WAVO-FM in 1965 ), sister to WAVO (1420 AM). The station was signed on by the Great Commission Gospel Association, which was in the process of selling both outlets to Bob Jones University.

Easy listening/Soft rock (1972–2006)
In 1972, the format changed to easy listening with the WPCH callsign. In the early 1980s, the station's format switched from easy listening to soft AC as a response to WSB-FM's format change. The station was branded as "FM95 WPCH" until mid-1991, when the "Peach 94.9" name was adopted, reflecting its exact frequency for newer radios with digital tuning, and Atlanta's nickname as the "Big Peach". (This is derived from its main road of Peachtree Street, and New York being the "Big Apple", as well as Atlanta being the "New York of the South"; the callsign is now on WPCH-TV as "Peachtree TV" in Atlanta.) The format changed to soft adult contemporary in 1990. The easy listening format was revived online as "The Peach" by Pretty Cool Media in 2021. The station enjoyed consistent ratings success through the 1990s and early 2000s.

In December 2002, the name "Peach" was dropped, and the station rebranded as WLTM "94.9 Lite FM". Prior to Christmas each year, Lite FM played all Christmas music.

From 2005 to 2006, the station had Randy & Spiff as its morning show. After it was canceled, they moved their show to 640 WGST later in 2007. The duo were formerly at WFOX "Fox 97" (now WSRV "The River") and briefly at then sister Clear Channel station WLCL FM "Cool 105.7". Lite's morning show from May 2003 until March 2005 was married couple Gene and Julie Gates. The nighttime show was the syndicated Delilah. (However, Delilah was not on the new 96.7; instead it was aired on former competitor WSB-FM, "B98.5FM" from late December 2006 until 2011.)

Country (2006–present)
In the middle of its all-Christmas music format, and more than a week before Christmas Day, Lite FM changed to country music as "The Bull" at noon on December 18, 2006. WLTM's call letters were then changed to WUBL. The old adult contemporary format officially moved to 96.7 FM two days later, and stayed there until December 26, 2007, when 96.7 switched to a classic country format to accompany WUBL. On January 7, 2008, WUBL added The Cledus T. Party, starring comedian/parody singer Cledus T. Judd, as its morning show.

Current personalities include: Kristen Gates (morning show co-host), Spencer Graves (morning show co-host), Art "Mad Man" Mehring (traffic), Angie Ward (mid-days), Otis "O-Man" (afternoons), Bobby Bones (Evenings), Aaron Micheal (Late Evenings)

HD radio
In 2011, the station changed its HD Radio channel 2 to simulcast Immanuel Broadcasting Network, whose flagship station is WCCV FM 91.7 in Cartersville. Two IBN-owned broadcast translators are actually assigned to WUBL instead of WCCV as their primary station: W265AV 100.9 Woodstock, and W223BP 92.5 Lithia Springs (previously W221CG 92.1 "Kennesaw", which was actually near Hiram/Dallas), both transmitting IBN programming. WGST AM 640 was carried on WUBL's HD3 channel, as well as on W222AF FM 92.3, which is also owned by Immanuel and formerly rebroadcast WCCV. However, W222AF was assigned directly to retransmit WGST, not WUBL.

In October 2012, not long after WGST became Spanish-language ESPN Deportes, WUBL HD-3 and W222AF split from WGST and became "Comedy 92-3", the locally inserted affiliate name for the satellite-fed radio network 24/7 Comedy. This same local feed was also retransmitted on DTV radio by WANN-CD 29, on virtual channel 32.21, with 94-9 the Bull on 32.22. In early June 2013, WUBL HD-3 and WANN 32.21 reverted to airing WGST at the same time that station again started English-language programming. ESPN Deportes moved to WWPW FM 96.1 HD-3, and now that station simulcasts on W222AF, although the FCC database still indicates WUBL as its supposed "primary" station. For a while in late 2014, WUBL HD-3 simulcasted the urban oldies and classic hip-hop formats of "Old School 99.3" (relayed on translator W257DF FM 99.3) through a lease agreement with owner Steve Hedgwood. After that translator was forced off-air due to co-channel interference with WCON-FM, the "Old School" format remained on the HD-3 channel for a time before returning to a simulcast of WGST. (The "Old School" format would be revived on WTBS-LP FM 87.7 in January 2016.)

title: WUBL


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WRDG

WRDG (96.1 FM) – branded as 96.1 The Beat – is a commercial mainstream urban radio station licensed to Atlanta, Georgia. Owned by iHeartMedia, the station serves the Atlanta metropolitan area. The WRDG studios are located in Atlanta's Upper Westside district inside the Works ATL development, while the station transmitter resides in nearby North Druid Hills. Besides a standard analog transmission, WRDG broadcasts over three HD Radio channels, and is available online via iHeartRadio.

Easy listening (1960–1972)
On December 2, 1960, the station signed on the air as WGAA-FM, the FM counterpart to WGAA in Cedartown. Shortly after being established, the station was sold to Kenco Broadcasting for $25,000. Kenco was headed by Don Kennedy, James Lathom and Arthur Swan; Kennedy was an Atlanta radio and television personality, playing "Officer Don" on WSB-TV's "Popeye Club" children's show from 1956 to 1972. After the sale, WGAA-FM's call letters were changed to WKLS, representing the initials of Kenco's partners, "Kennedy-Lathom-Swan". They sold it ten years later for $750,000.

From its earliest days until the early 1970s, the station played easy listening music. For its first several years on the air, WKLS was voice-tracked with most of the announcements and commercials read by Kennedy.

MOR (1972–1974)
By 1972, WKLS had moved to a middle of the road (MOR) format with popular adult music and live disc jockeys who served as friendly personalities. Its main slogan by then was "WKLS...That's 'Klass'."

From 1977 to 1988, WKLS was co-owned with WKLS (970 AM); consequently, WKLS was formally known as WKLS-FM during this period. The following year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) database shows it as having the call letters WEOA for a month from November to December (however, this may be a mistake).

Album rock (1974–2006)
WKLS made a dramatic change in 1974, as it flipped to an album rock format, using the moniker "96 Rock", the branding it retained until November 2006. Key artists on WKLS in the 1970s included The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Carole King, The Who and Chicago. For a time in 1977, DJ "Skinny" Bobby Harper, who was the inspiration for Dr. Johnny Fever of the television sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati, was a WKLS disc jockey. In the 1980s, the station was acquired by The Great American Radio & TV Company, with Jacor Communications taking over in the 1990s.

In the early 1980s, "96 Rock" cultivated a somewhat macho image. The station often mocked competing stations which played Top 40 hits as "wimp rock." WKLS began to play more heavy metal, which was increasing in popularity, especially among teenaged boys. However, a backlash began to develop among the station's more mature listeners. In 1985, the station modified its playlist to a mix of older and newer titles. WKLS and its parent company Jacor was bought by San Antonio-based Clear Channel Communications.

"96 Rock" continued to play a mixture of classic rock and new rock for nearly two decades. WKLS finally became exclusively a classic rock station in 2004. The 2004 change occurred when competing Atlanta station Z-93 (WZGC FM 92.9) became "Dave FM," switching from classic rock to adult album alternative (AAA). This did not cause a dramatic change in 96 Rock's playlist, however. Even before officially declaring itself a classic rock station, most of its songs were from past decades. Only a few new or recent songs were played an hour.

The station honored its history and tradition on several occasions. In 1984, WKLS celebrated its 10th anniversary by airing a Labor Day countdown of the top 296 songs from 1974 to 1984. The station's 30th anniversary was recognized in 2004 with several promotions. Listeners were asked to write to the station and reminisce about events in their lives, in which 96 Rock played a memorable role. Some of this correspondence was read on the air and posted on the station's website.

In April 2004, long-time morning drive time hosts The Regular Guys (Larry Wachs and Eric Von Haessler) were fired after they had inadvertently aired graphic sexual language from porn star Devin Lane when the content bled through a Honda commercial. That content, which aired the previous month, was intended to be played backwards. The Regular Guys wanted to mock the FCC indecency crackdown when they came back from the break. Regular Guys sidekick "Southside" Steve Rickman and former midday host Tim Rhodes took the morning time slot temporarily. A permanent replacement came in the form of the syndicated Bob & Tom Show, as Rhodes and Rickman moved to the afternoon slot. The Regular Guys returned to Atlanta airwaves on March 21, 2005, and came back to 96 Rock in May, after a brief stint on co-owned talk station WGST. The return of the Regular Guys only lasted 18 months.

On October 23, 2006, Clear Channel Communications terminated the Regular Guys for good following an incident in which Wachs recorded bathroom conversations between the two morning show hosts on co-owned WWVA-FM while all three men were using the restroom. The recording was played on the air a couple of days later. The WWVA hosts (known as "Yogi & Panda") complained to management and subsequently sued Clear Channel and The Regular Guys. Wachs said, "A case of a humorous prank has turned into a culture clash, a suppression of First Amendment rights, and a ridiculous smear campaign against me as well as termination of my income without due process."

Active rock (2006–2012)
On November 17, 2006, at 9 a.m., Clear Channel dropped the station's 32-year "96 Rock" moniker, replacing it with "Project 9-6-1", and shifted to more of an active rock format. At the same time, alternative-formatted "105.3 The Buzz" (WBZY) ceased independent operations and began simulcasting the new format for several days, until a Regional Mexican music format began. The new format on WKLS was intended to be somewhat of a merger between 96 Rock and The Buzz, although more personalities from The Buzz were on the new station than ones from 96 Rock.

On July 7, 2007, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the new morning show host for Project 9-6-1 would be "Giant" Brian Carothers, morning producer and sidekick for John DeBella at WMGK in Philadelphia. Carothers was joined by co-host Shaffee, former radio personality from long-time rock station WRIF in Detroit. The Giant Show debuted on October 1, 2007. On October 2, 2009, it was announced that "Giant" Brian Carothers would no longer be a part of the morning show and The Giant Show would be replaced by a show hosted by Shaffee and El Jefe, who was later replaced by Klinger.

On May 21, 2011, it was revealed that Shaffee and Klinger would no longer be a part of the morning show. Kidd Chris from WYSP Philadelphia announced on May 24, 2011, that he would be joining the morning show. He hosted mornings on Project 9-6-1 until the format's demise.

Top 40/CHR (2012–2024)
On August 29, 2012, at 7 p.m., without warning, "Project" signed off following a farewell message from program director Chris "The OC" Williams, as he ended the station's 38-year rock history with "Free Bird" by Lynyrd Skynyrd, with the rock format moving to its HD2 digital subchannel. After stunting with an hour of jockless pop songs and the opening chorus to "Ready or Not" by The Fugees, the station flipped to Top 40/CHR, branded as "Power 96-1". The first (and ultimately, last) song on "Power" was "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO. The flip marked the second station in the market to use the "Power" branding, the first being WARM-FM/WAPW from 1986 to 1992. On September 11, 2012, WKLS changed call letters to WWPW to match the "Power" branding.

The nationally syndicated program Elvis Duran and the Morning Show was carried by WWPW from September 2012 until February 11, 2014. When Duran was discontinued, the station warned listeners about the change, and directed them to the iHeartRadio website and smartphone app. WWPW went a month without a morning show, playing music during morning drive time, calling it The Most New Hit Music in the Morning, until the station debuted a local morning show on March 17 with Scotty K, Riley Couture and Bret Mega.

On February 29, 2016, it was officially announced that Power Morning Show hosts Scotty K and Bret Mega were let go. This came as a surprise since the local morning show, and the station as a whole, had been gaining traction in the ratings. Some speculations had been made about Power mornings returning to a more music-intensive show. Word of their replacement was announced on March 19, with PK Kalentzis, formerly of The Playhouse morning show from Portland, Oregon, and KKHH in Houston, hosting mornings along with his wife Denise and Riley Couture beginning March 21. In November 2020, PK and Denise Kalentzis and co-host DuRyan Smith were let go as a result of budget cuts; in February 2021, WWPW would pick up "The Jubal Show" (syndicated from sister station KBKS in Seattle) for morning drive.

WWPW also carried the syndicated On-Air with Ryan Seacrest, hosted by Atlanta native Ryan Seacrest, in middays. Seacrest's countdown show American Top 40 was also heard Sunday mornings.

Mainstream Urban (2024–present)
On April 16, 2024, WWPW began promoting a "big announcement" at noon that day. At that time, WWPW assumed WRDG's mainstream urban format and "Beat" branding, relaunching as "96.1 The Beat". After a one hour simulcast, the Top 40/CHR format and "Power" branding would move to WRDG. The move comes as "Power" registered a 1.8 share in the March 2024 Nielsen ratings, well behind WWWQ's 3 share. The two stations would swap call letters on April 23.

Digital broadcasting
WRDG broadcasts in IBOC digital radio, using the HD Radio system, with four subchannels:

 * WRDG-HD1 is a digital simulcast of the analog signal.
 * WRDG-HD2 airs a classic rock format as "96 Rock".
 * WRDG-HD3 airs the "Peach" format.

In late March 2010, low-power digital TV station WANN-LD started carrying the audio of WKLS on one of its multiplexed, audio-only digital subchannels. Originally on virtual channel 32.13, it was then moved to 32.103, with 32.101 to 32.106 reserved for other iHeartMedia, Inc. stations in Atlanta.

HD2
On January 30, 2006, WKLS added a separate digital subchannel known under the branding "The Cabin" and airing an adult album alternative format. WKLS-HD2 later changed names to "The Alternative Project" or "Project 9-6-1".

Following the main channel's format change to "Power 96.1" in August 2012, the "Project 9-6-1" rock format moved to the HD2 subchannel of WKLS as "Project 9-6-2". Then on March 28, 2013, hours after the WWVA/WWLG simulcast flipped formats from rhythmic contemporary, WWPW-HD2 became "Wild 96.1 HD2".

It eventually changed to a simulcast of sister station WRDG due to low signal strength in the eastern portions of Atlanta. This was later replaced with a rock format under the heritage "96 Rock" branding that was heard on the analog channel prior to 2006.

HD3
In June 2013, WWPW activated a third digital subchannel, WWPW-HD3, and began airing ESPN Deportes Spanish-language sports programming. The format was also carried on FM translator W222AF at 92.3 MHz. On October 2, 2015, W222AF/WWPW-HD3 flipped to Spanish adult contemporary with the branding "Mia 92.3".

In July 2020, WWPW-HD3 switched to a simulcast of sister station WBIN. As of November 2022, the sub-channel was turned off.

The HD3 currently broadcasts the Adult contemporary "Peach" format.

HD4
On September 24, 2020, the WWPW-HD4 subchannel changed formats from gospel to classic hits, still under the "102.1 The King" branding. On January 8, 2021, WWPW-HD4 rebranded as "Fox FM", joining simulcasters WBAF (1090 AM) in Barnesville and WFDR (1370 AM) in Manchester. Syndicated programming on Fox FM includes Daily Dees hosted by Rick Dees in middays and Scott Shannon Presents America's Greatest Hits on weekends.

As of August 2022, "Fox FM" is no longer broadcast on WWPW-HD4.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: WRDG


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WKHX-FM

WKHX-FM (101.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Marietta, Georgia, featuring a country music format known as "New Country 101.Five". Owned by Cumulus Media, the station serves the Atlanta metropolitan area. WKHX-FM's studios are located in Sandy Springs, while the transmitter is located west of Emory University, in unincorporated DeKalb County. In addition to a standard analog transmission, WKHX-FM broadcasts in HD Radio, and is available online.

History
The station signed on as WBIE-FM on November 11, 1959 under the ownership of Marietta Broadcasting. Initially, WBIE simulcast the variety programming of its sister station AM 1080 WBIE, but in February 1968 it adopted a full-time country music format. The station manager at the time, James M. Wilder, has a technology laboratory building named after him at Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta.

Initially, WBIE-FM was powered at 3,500 watts, only heard in and around Marietta. In the 1970s, WBIE-FM boosted its power to the legal maximum of 100,000 watts, and became audible in Metro Atlanta. Its AM companion at 1080 switched its format to Adult Standards and its call sign to WCOB. The power boost made WBIE-FM a candidate to be bought by a large broadcasting company anxious for a strong FM signal in the growing Atlanta radio market.

"Kicks 101.5" debuted in November 1981 after Capital Cities Communications purchased WBIE-FM. Capital Cities switched WBIE-FM's call letters to WKHX and made the station a contender in the Atlanta ratings. In 1987, WKHX programming began to be simulcast on Capital Cities-owned AM 590, formerly known as WAGA and WPLO. The AM station became WKHX, while 101.5 added an FM suffix, becoming WKHX-FM. Today, AM 590 is Christian radio WDWD, owned by Salem Media.

Capital Cities took over ABC, including its television and radio stations, in 1985. In 1995, ABC bought WKHX-FM's rival country station, WYAY. Eventually, WYAY switched to news programming, and today is Christian Contemporary-formatted WAKL after being sold to the Educational Media Foundation in 2019. In December 2006, WKHX-FM got a new country music competitor in WUBL, owned by Clear Channel Communications (now iHeartMedia).

WKHX-FM and other ABC Radio stations were acquired by Citadel Broadcasting in 2007, which was absorbed into Cumulus Media in September 2011. In October 2011, WKHX-FM modified its playlist from playing only "new country" music to mixing in some older hits from the 1990s to the present.

On November 13, 2019, WKHX began running liners promoting a "big announcement" to come at 3 p.m. the following day. Several liners had a wolf-howling sound effect, a nod to rumors on radio news websites (based on web domains registered by Cumulus as far back as September) that the station was to rebrand as "The Wolf". At the promised time, the station rebranded, but instead as "New Country 101.Five", and also introducing a new morning show host, JJ Kincaid, to team with existing co-host Dallas McCade, with the show being branded as "Kincaid and Dallas".

title: WKHX-FM


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Canada and the Vietnam War

Canada did not officially participate in the Vietnam War. However, it contributed to peacekeeping forces in 1973 to help enforce the Paris Peace Accords.

Privately, some Canadians contributed to the war effort. Canadian corporations sold war material to the U.S. government. In addition, at least 30,000 Canadians volunteered to serve in the U.S. armed forces during the war. At least 134 Canadians died or were reported missing in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of U.S. Vietnam War resisters emigrated to Canada to avoid the draft. Largely middle class and educated, they had a significant impact on Canadian life. After the war, tens of thousands of Vietnamese boat people were also admitted and became a unique part of Canadian life.

Beginnings
During the First Indochina War between France and the Indo-Chinese nationalist and communist parties, Canada remained militarily neutral but provided modest diplomatic and economic support to the French. Canada was, however, part of the International Control Commission (along with Poland and India) that oversaw the 1954 Geneva Agreements that divided Vietnam, provided for French withdrawal, and would have instituted elections for reunification by 1956. Behind the scenes, Canadian diplomats tried to discourage both France and the United States from escalating the conflict in a part of the world Canada had decided was not strategically vital.

Canada laid out six prerequisites to joining a war effort or Asian alliance like SEATO:
 * 1) It had to involve cultural and trade connections in addition to a military alliance.
 * 2) It had to demonstrably meet the will of the people in the countries involved.
 * 3) Other free Asian states had to support it directly or in principle.
 * 4) France had to refer the conflict to the United Nations organization.
 * 5) Any multilateral action must conform to the UN charter.
 * 6) Any action had to be divorced from all elements of colonialism.

These criteria effectively guaranteed Canada would not participate in the Vietnam War.

Canadian involvement in the war
At the start of the Vietnam War, Canada was a member of the International Control Commission (ICC) overseeing the implementation of the Geneva Agreements, and thus attempted to maintain an air of neutrality. However, the Canadian negotiators were strongly on the side of the U.S. One representative (J. Blair Seaborn, younger brother of Robert Seaborn) was even involved in secretly exchanging messages between the U.S. and North Vietnam on behalf of the U.S., with the approval of the Canadian government. Canada also sent foreign aid to South Vietnam, which, while humanitarian, was directed by the U.S. Canada tried to mediate between the warring countries, aiming for a conclusion that could allow the U.S. to leave the conflict honourably. It has also been commonly believed, as reported at the time, that the Canadian government of Prime Minister Lester Pearson publicly criticized U.S. war methods. Yet, the text of a speech which Pearson delivered at Temple University in Philadelphia on April 2, 1965 has debunked this widespread rumor, with Pearson even stating "The government and great majority of people of my country have supported wholeheartedly the US peacekeeping and peacemaking policies in Vietnam."

Meanwhile, Canadian industry exported military supplies and raw materials useful in their manufacture, including ammunition, napalm and Agent Orange, to the United States, as trade between the two countries continued without interruption or hindrance.

"500 firms sold $2.5 billion of war materials (ammunition, napalm, aircraft engines and explosives) to the Pentagon. Another $10 billion in food, beverages, berets and boots for the troops was exported to the U.S., as well as nickel, copper, lead, oil, brass for shell casings, wiring, plate armour and military transport. In Canada unemployment fell to record low levels of 3.9%".

Although these exports were sales by Canadian firms, not gifts from the Canadian government, they nonetheless benefited the U.S. war effort. The first official statement about the Canadian economic support given to the United States armed forces was by Lester Pearson on March 10, 1967, when he stated that the export of goods to Canada's southern ally was "necessary and logical" due to the extreme integration of both economies, and that an embargo would be a notice of withdrawal from North American defense arrangements.

As the war escalated, however, relations between Canada and the United States gradually deteriorated. In his Temple University speech, while stating firm support for U.S. policy, Pearson also called for a pause in the bombing of North Vietnam. In a perhaps apocryphal story, when a furious President Lyndon B. Johnson met with Pearson the next day, he grabbed the much smaller Canadian by his lapels and talked angrily with him for an hour. After this incident, the two men somehow found ways to resolve their differences over the war and had further contacts, including later twice meeting in Canada. With the federal elections of 1968, which brought Pierre Trudeau to the prime ministry, Canadian policy changed radically to one of unrelenting criticism of U.S. policy in Vietnam. Trudeau called for immediate negotiations between the U.S. and North Vietnam and offered on at least one occasion to serve as mediator in the negotiations, annoying President Richard Nixon, who succeeded Lyndon Johnson after his own election to the U.S. presidency in 1968.

Assistance to the U.S. war effort
Canada's official diplomatic position in relation to the Vietnam War was that of a non-belligerent, which imposed a ban on the export of war-related items to the combat areas. Nonetheless, Canadian industry was also a major supplier of equipment and supplies to the U.S. forces, not sending these directly to South Vietnam but to the United States. The goods included relatively benign items like boots, but also aircraft, munitions, napalm, and commercial defoliants, the use of which was fiercely opposed by anti-war protesters at the time. In accordance with the 1956 Defence Production Sharing Agreement, Canadian industry sold $2.47 billion in materiel to the United States between 1965 and 1973. Many of the companies were owned by US parent firms, but all export sales over $100,000 US (and thus, the majority of contracts) were arranged through the Canadian Commercial Corporation, a crown corporation which functioned as an intermediary between the United States Department of Defense and Canadian industry. In some cases Canadian defence contractors were even sent to the theatre of war to undertake company work, such as when de Havilland Canada sent mobile repair teams from the Downsview, Toronto plant to complete depot-level repair of battle-damaged de Havilland Caribou aircraft that were owned and operated by the U.S. Army. Furthermore, the Canadian and the American Defence departments worked together to test chemical defoliants for use in Vietnam, a collaboration only revealed to the public in 1981. Canada also allowed their NATO ally to use Canadian facilities and bases for training exercises and weapons testing as per existing treaties.

Between January 28, 1973 and July 31, 1973, Canada provided 240 peacekeeping troops to Operation Gallant, the peacekeeping operation associated with the International Commission of Control and Supervision (ICCS) Vietnam, along with Hungary, Indonesia, and Poland. Their role was to monitor the cease-fire in South Vietnam per the Paris Peace Accords. After Canada's departure from the Commission, it was replaced by Iran.

Canadians in the U.S. armed forces

In a counter-current to the movement of U.S. draft evaders and deserters to Canada, about 30,000 Canadians volunteered to fight for the U.S. in Southeast Asia. Among the volunteers were 50 Mohawks from the Kahnawake reserve near Montreal. U.S. Army Sergeant Peter C. Lemon, an immigrant from Canada, was awarded the U.S. Medal of Honor for his valour in the conflict. This cross-border enlistment was not unprecedented: Both the First and the Second World War saw thousands of Americans join the Canadian Armed Forces before the U.S officially declared war on Germany.

In 2015, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) produced a story remembering the Canadians who fought and died in the war. According to that story, a Canadian veterans association estimates that 20,000 Canadians enlisted in the U.S. armed forces to fight alongside the Americans, while some historians put the number as high as 40,000. Of these, an estimated 12,000 saw combat in Vietnam, and at least 134 were killed or declared missing in action.

The 2015 CBC story paid special attention to Rob McSorley, a teen-age Army Ranger from Vancouver who was shot dead by North Vietnamese soldiers. Other Canadians who gave their lives and were recognized in the story include:
 * Thomas Edwin Fraser of the Six Nations Reserve in Ohsweken, Ontario
 * Randolph Hatton from Toronto
 * Robert Wilson Holditch from Port Robinson, Ontario
 * Bruce Thomas Kennedy from Espanola, Ontario
 * Jonathan Peter Kmetyk from St. Catharines, Ontario
 * John J. Roden from Halifax, Nova Scotia
 * Larry Semeniuk from Windsor, Ontario
 * Murray Dean Vidler from Kerrobert, Saskatchewan.
 * Murray Dean Vidler from Kerrobert, Saskatchewan.

In Windsor, Ontario, there is a privately funded monument to the Canadians killed in the Vietnam War. In Melocheville, Quebec, there is a monument dating from October 1989 funded by the Association Québécoise des Vétérans du Vietnam.

U.S. war resisters in Canada
U.S. draft evaders (often referred to by the disparaging term "draft dodgers") and military deserters who sought refuge in Canada during the Vietnam War would ignite controversy among those seeking to immigrate to Canada, some of it provoked by the Canadian government's initial refusal to admit those who could not prove they had been discharged from U.S. military service. This changed in 1968 with the installment of Pierre Trudeau as prime minister. On May 22, 1969, Ottawa announced that Canadian immigration officials could not ask about immigration applicants' military status if they appeared at the border seeking permanent residence in Canada. According to Valerie Knowles, draft evaders were usually college-educated sons of the middle class who could no longer defer induction into the Selective Service System. Deserters, on the other hand, were predominantly sons of the lower-middle and working classes who had been inducted into the armed services directly from high school or who had volunteered, hoping to obtain a skill and broaden their opportunities.

Starting in 1965, Canada became a choice haven for U.S. draft evaders and deserters. Because they were not formally classified as refugees but admitted as immigrants, there is no official estimate of how many draft evaders and deserters entered Canada during the Vietnam War. One informed estimate puts their number between 30,000 and 40,000. Whether or not this estimate is accurate, the fact remains that emigration from the United States was high as long as the U.S. was participating in the war militarily and maintained compulsory military service. In 1971-72, Canada received more immigrants from the United States than from any other country.

Draft evaders
Estimates vary greatly as to how many males from the U.S. settled in Canada for the specific reason of dodging the draft or "evading conscription," as opposed to desertion, or other reasons. Canadian immigration statistics show that 20,000 to 30,000 draft-eligible males from the U.S. came to Canada as immigrants during the Vietnam era. The BBC has reported that "as many as 60,000 young American men dodged the draft." Estimates of the total number of U.S. citizens who moved to Canada due to their opposition to the war range from 50,000 to 125,000 This exodus was "the largest politically motivated migration from the United States since the United Empire Loyalists moved north to oppose the American Revolution." Major communities of war resisters formed in Montreal, the Slocan Valley, British Columbia, and on Baldwin Street in Toronto, Ontario.

They were at first assisted by the Student Union for Peace Action, a campus-based Canadian anti-war organization with connections to Students for a Democratic Society in the U.S. Canadian immigration policy at the time made it easy for immigrants from all countries to obtain legal status in Canada. By late 1967, draft evaders were being assisted primarily by several locally based anti-draft organizations (over twenty of them), such as the Vancouver Committee to Aid American War Objectors and the Toronto Anti-Draft Programme. As a counselor for the Programme, Mark Satin wrote the Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada in 1968. It sold nearly 100,000 copies overall. In 1970, Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot recorded his song "Sit Down Young Stranger" to express his views on Canada's acceptance of American draft evaders.

The influx of these young men, who, as mentioned earlier, were often well educated and politically leftist, affected Canada's academic and cultural institutions, and Canadian society at large. These new arrivals tended to balance the "brain drain" that Canada had experienced. While some draft evaders returned to the United States after a pardon was declared in 1977 during the presidential administration of Jimmy Carter, roughly half of them stayed in Canada.

Prominent draft evaders who stayed in Canada permanently, or for a significant amount of time, have included:
 * Mike Fisher – founding member of Heart, notable rock/pop band
 * William Gibson – science fiction writer, winner of a Nebula Award
 * Jim Green – Vancouver city councillor and mayoral candidate
 * Michael Hendricks – gay rights advocate
 * Jeffry House – lawyer, clients include many activists
 * Bill King – musician and organizer of Toronto's Beaches Jazz Festival
 * Michael Klein – activist physician, spouse of Bonnie Sherr Klein, father of Naomi Klein
 * Keith Maillard – professor of creative writing, University of British Columbia
 * Eric Nagler – children's entertainer on The Elephant Show
 * Wayne Robinson – father of Svend Robinson, former Member of Parliament
 * Jay Scott – film critic, The Globe and Mail
 * Jesse Winchester – singer-songwriter
 * Michael Wolfson – assistant chief statistician at Statistics Canada
 * Harry Yates – human resources manager at the Ministry of the Attorney General of British Columbia

Deserters
Distinct from draft resisters, there were also deserters from the U.S. armed forces who also made their way to Canada. There was pressure from both the United States and Canada for the deserters to be arrested, or at least stopped at the border.

The deserters have not been pardoned and may still face pro forma arrest, as the case of Allen Abney demonstrated in March 2006. Another similar case was that of Richard Allen Shields: He had deserted the U.S. Army in Alaska in 1972 after serving a year in Vietnam. Twenty-eight years later, on March 22, 2000, while he attempted to drive a lumber truck across the US-Canada border (in Metaline Falls, Washington) he was arrested by U.S. Customs agents and jailed at Fort Sill. He was discharged from the Army with an Other Than Honorable discharge in April 2000. Other noteworthy deserters from that era include the following:
 * Andy Barrie- former host of Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Radio's Metro Morning in Toronto (He later received a General discharge from the United States Army, became a Canadian citizen, and is free to travel to the U.S.)
 * Dick Cotterill
 * Michael Shaffer: "After six months in the Army, my application for CO status was denied and I was told that I would be going to Vietnam. I refused to draw my weapon and was ordered court-martialed. On Labour Day 1970 I was able to escape and cross into Canada ... During President Ford's Clemency Program in 1975, I went to Fort Dix seeking the "Undesirable Discharge" offered to deserters who turned themselves in. The Army decided that I wasn't eligible and court-martial proceedings were resumed. With help from the ACLU, I was released and two years later a Federal Court ordered the Army to discharge me Honourably as a Conscientious Objector ... I remained in Vancouver"
 * Jack Todd – award-winning sports columnist for the Montreal Gazette
 * Mike Tulley - Edmonton, Alberta area sound engineer and social activist

Missing-text controversy
In February 2009, text on how both draft evaders and resisters of the Vietnam War were ultimately allowed to stay in Canada suddenly vanished from the website of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada."

Originally, the Government of Canada website had contained the following statements:

"... Starting in 1965, Canada became a choice haven for American draft resisters and deserters, ... Although some of these transplanted Americans returned home after the Vietnam War, most of them put down roots in Canada, making up the largest, best-educated group this country had ever received."

The above statement (now gone from the website) was part of an extensive online chapter on draft resisters and deserters from the Vietnam war, which was found in the larger online document,"Forging Our Legacy: Canadian Citizenship and Immigration, 1900–1977" It was originally posted on the Government of Canada website in the year 2000, when the Liberal Party of Canada, led by Jean Chrétien, was in power and responsible for the content of that website but in 2009, the Ministry of Stephen Harper [took] "a much dimmer view of dozens of U.S. soldiers who've come north after refusing to serve in the invasion of Iraq. Some had already been deported to face military jail terms ranging from about six to 15 months."

The removal from the Citizenship and Immigration website occurred in the same month that its multi-party counterpart, the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration was debating that issue:  On February 12, 2009, that multi-party committee passed, for the second time, a non-binding motion reaffirming Parliament's earlier (June 2008) vote which recommended that the government let Iraq War resisters stay in Canada. A month and a half later, on March 30, 2009, the House of Commons of Canada again voted in a non-binding motion 129 to 125 in favour of the committee's recommendation.

After the war

The Vietnam War continued to resonate in Canada long after the war was over.

Vietnamese boat people
After the fall of South Vietnam in April 1975, hundreds of thousands of refugees, called boat people, fled Vietnam and adjacent nations. According to Canadian immigration historian Valerie Knowles, from 1979 to 1980 Canada admitted an estimated 60,000 of these refugees, "most of whom had endured several days in small, leaky boats, prey to vicious pirate attacks, before ending up in squalid camps". Knowles says it was the highest number of boat people accepted by any nation, including the United States, during that period. The boat people constituted 25% of all newcomers admitted to Canada from 1978 to 1981. This created a substantial Vietnamese community in Canada, concentrated especially in Montreal, Vancouver, and Toronto.

Cultural and political shifts
The Vietnam War was an important cultural turning point in Canada. Coupled with Canada's centenary in 1967 and the success of Expo 67, Canada became far more independent and nationalistic. The public, if not their representatives in parliament, became more willing to oppose the United States and to move in a different direction socially and politically.

Agent Orange in New Brunswick
In 1981, a government report revealed that Agent Orange, the controversial defoliant, had been tested at CFB Gagetown, New Brunswick. In June 1966, the chemical was sprayed over nearly 600 acres (2.4 km2) of forest inside the base. There are differing opinions about the level of toxicity of the site; but, in 2006, the Canadian government said it planned to compensate some of those who were exposed. As of 2011, some claims have been paid but the administration of the compensation program has been criticized.

The war

 * Canada's Secret War: Vietnam. Digital archives, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
 * Canadian Vietnam Veterans Association
 * Canadian Vietnam Veterans Memorial Association
 * North Wall, Canadian Vietnam Veterans Memorial
 * Vietnam Veterans With a Mission . Information and pictures.
 * Vietnam War Bibliography: Canada. Compiled by scholar Edwin L. Morse.
 * The Vietnam War: Canada's Role, Part One. Transcript of a CBC Radio broadcast.

War immigrants

 * Jack Pocock Memorial Collection, in the Discover Archives at the University of Toronto.  Material from the Toronto Anti-Draft Programme and similar organizations, mostly from 1969–1975.
 * Manual for Draft-Age Immigrants to Canada. Narrative and excerpt.
 * Seeking Sanctuary: Draft Dodgers. Digital archives, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
 * Toronto Anti-Draft Programme. Self-description from 1968.
 * The Vietnam War: Canada's Role, Part Two: The Boat People. Transcript of a CBC Radio broadcast.
 * Vietnam War Resisters in Canada, hosted by Vancouver Community Network. Annotated guide to texts and websites from the 1960s to the present. Compiled by scholar Joseph Jones.
 * Vietnamese Community in Canada. Overview by Statistics Canada.

title: Canada and the Vietnam War


text:
Health insurance

Health insurance or medical insurance (also known as medical aid in South Africa) is a type of insurance that covers the whole or a part of the risk of a person incurring medical expenses. As with other types of insurance, risk is shared among many individuals. By estimating the overall risk of health risk and health system expenses over the risk pool, an insurer can develop a routine finance structure, such as a monthly premium or payroll tax, to provide the money to pay for the health care benefits specified in the insurance agreement. The benefit is administered by a central organization, such as a government agency, private business, or not-for-profit entity.

According to the Health Insurance Association of America, health insurance is defined as "coverage that provides for the payments of benefits as a result of sickness or injury. It includes insurance for losses from accident, medical expense, disability, or accidental death and dismemberment".

Background
A health insurance policy is:
 * 1) A contract between an insurance provider (e.g. an insurance company or a government) and an individual or his/her sponsor (that is an employer or a community organization). The contract can be renewable (annually, monthly) or lifelong in the case of private insurance. It can also be mandatory for all citizens in the case of national plans. The type and amount of health care costs that will be covered by the health insurance provider are specified in writing, in a member contract or "Evidence of Coverage" booklet for private insurance, or in a national [health policy] for public insurance.
 * 2) (US specific) In the U.S., there are two types of health insurance – tax payer-funded and private-funded. A private-funded insurance plan example includes an employer-sponsored self-funded ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974) plan. Typically, these companies promote themselves as having ties to major insurance providers. However, in the context of an ERISA plan, these insurance companies do not actively participate in insurance practices; instead, they handle administrative tasks. Consequently, ERISA plans are exempt from state regulations and fall under federal jurisdiction, overseen by the US Department of Labor (USDOL). Specific details about benefits or coverage can be found in the Summary Plan Description (SPD). Should there be a need for an appeal, the process typically involves initiating it through the insurance company and then reaching out to the Employer's Plan Fiduciary. If a resolution is still not achieved, the decision can be escalated to the USDOL for review to ensure compliance with ERISA regulations, and, if necessary, legal action can be taken by filing a lawsuit in federal court.

The individual insured person's obligations may take several forms:

 * Premium: The amount the policy-holder or their sponsor (e.g. an employer) pays to the health plan to purchase health coverage. (US specific) According to the healthcare law, a premium is calculated using 5 specific factors regarding the insured person. These factors are age, location, tobacco use, individual vs. family enrollment, and which plan category the insured chooses. Under the Affordable Care Act, the government pays a tax credit to cover part of the premium for persons who purchase private insurance through the Insurance Marketplace.
 * Deductible: The amount that the insured must pay out-of-pocket before the health insurer pays its share. For example, policy-holders might have to pay a $7500 deductible per year, before any of their health care is covered by the health insurer. It may take several doctor's visits or prescription refills before the insured person reaches the deductible and the insurance company starts to pay for care. Furthermore, most policies do not apply co-pays for doctor's visits or prescriptions against your deductible.
 * Co-payment: The amount that the insured person must pay out of pocket before the health insurer pays for a particular visit or service. For example, an insured person might pay a $45 co-payment for a doctor's visit, or to obtain a prescription. A co-payment must be paid each time a particular service is obtained.
 * Coinsurance: Instead of, or in addition to, paying a fixed amount up front (a co-payment), the co-insurance is a percentage of the total cost that an insured person may also pay. For example, the member might have to pay 20% of the cost of a surgery over and above a co-payment, while the insurance company pays the other 80%. If there is an upper limit on coinsurance, the policy-holder could end up owing very little, or a great deal, depending on the actual costs of the services they obtain.
 * Exclusions: Not all services are covered. Billed items like use-and-throw, taxes, etc. are excluded from admissible claim. The insured are generally expected to pay the full cost of non-covered services out of their own pockets.
 * Coverage limits: Some health insurance policies only pay for health care up to a certain dollar amount. The insured person may be expected to pay any charges in excess of the health plan's maximum payment for a specific service. In addition, some insurance company schemes have annual or lifetime coverage maxima. In these cases, the health plan will stop payment when they reach the benefit maximum, and the policy-holder must pay all remaining costs.
 * Out-of-pocket maximum: Similar to coverage limits, except that in this case, the insured person's payment obligation ends when they reach the out-of-pocket maximum, and health insurance pays all further covered costs. Out-of-pocket maximum can be limited to a specific benefit category (such as prescription drugs) or can apply to all coverage provided during a specific benefit year.
 * Capitation: An amount paid by an insurer to a health care provider, for which the provider agrees to treat all members of the insurer.
 * In-Network Provider: (U.S. term) A health care provider on a list of providers preselected by the insurer. The insurer will offer discounted coinsurance or co-payments, or additional benefits, to a plan member to see an in-network provider. Generally, providers in network are providers who have a contract with the insurer to accept rates further discounted from the "usual and customary" charges the insurer pays to out-of-network providers.
 * Out-of-Network Provider: A health care provider that has not contracted with the plan. If using an out-of-network provider, the patient may have to pay full cost of the benefits and services received from that provider. Even for emergency services, out-of-network providers may bill patients for some additional costs associated.
 * Prior Authorization: A certification or authorization that an insurer provides prior to medical service occurring. Obtaining an authorization means that the insurer is obligated to pay for the service, assuming it matches what was authorized. Many smaller, routine services do not require authorization.
 * Formulary: the list of drugs that an insurance plan agrees to cover.
 * Explanation of benefits: A document that may be sent by an insurer to a patient explaining what was covered for a medical service, and how payment amount and patient responsibility amount were determined. In the case of emergency room billing, patients are notified within 30 days post service. Patients are rarely notified of the cost of emergency room services in-person due to patient conditions and other logistics until receipt of this letter.

Prescription drug plans are a form of insurance offered through some health insurance plans. In the U.S., the patient usually pays a copayment and the prescription drug insurance part or all of the balance for drugs covered in the formulary of the plan. Such plans are routinely part of national health insurance programs. For example, in the province of Quebec, Canada, prescription drug insurance is universally required as part of the public health insurance plan, but may be purchased and administered either through private or group plans, or through the public plan.

Some, if not most, health care providers in the United States will agree to bill the insurance company if patients are willing to sign an agreement that they will be responsible for the amount that the insurance company does not pay. The insurance company pays out of network providers according to "reasonable and customary" charges, which may be less than the provider's usual fee. The provider may also have a separate contract with the insurer to accept what amounts to a discounted rate or capitation to the provider's standard charges. It generally costs the patient less to use an in-network provider.

Comparisons

The Commonwealth Fund, in its annual survey, "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall", compares the performance of the health care systems in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada and the U.S. Its 2007 study found that, although the U.S. system is the most expensive, it consistently under-performs compared to the other countries. One difference between the U.S. and the other countries in the study is that the U.S. is the only country without universal health insurance coverage.

The Commonwealth Fund completed its thirteenth annual health policy survey in 2010. A study of the survey "found significant differences in access, cost burdens, and problems with health insurance that are associated with insurance design". Of the countries surveyed, the results indicated that people in the United States had more out-of-pocket expenses, more disputes with insurance companies than other countries, and more insurance payments denied; paperwork was also higher although Germany had similarly high levels of paperwork.

Australia
The Australian public health system is called Medicare, which provides free universal access to hospital treatment and subsidised out-of-hospital medical treatment. It is funded by a 2% tax levy on all taxpayers, an extra 1% levy on high income earners, as well as general revenue.

The private health system is funded by a number of private health insurance organizations. The largest of these is Medibank Private Limited, which was, until 2014, a government-owned entity, when it was privatized and listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.

Australian health funds can be either 'for profit' including Bupa and nib; 'mutual' including Australian Unity; or 'non-profit' including GMHBA, HCF and the HBF Health Insurance. Some, such as Police Health, have membership restricted to particular groups, but the majority have open membership. Membership to most health funds is now also available through comparison websites. These comparison sites operate on a commission-basis by agreement with their participating health funds. The Private Health Insurance Ombudsman also operates a free website that allows consumers to search for and compare private health insurers' products, which includes information on price and level of cover.

Most aspects of private health insurance in Australia are regulated by the Private Health Insurance Act 2007. Complaints and reporting of the private health industry is carried out by an independent government agency, the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman. The ombudsman publishes an annual report that outlines the number and nature of complaints per health fund compared to their market share

The private health system in Australia operates on a "community rating" basis, whereby premiums do not vary solely because of a person's previous medical history, the current state of health, or (generally speaking) their age (but see Lifetime Health Cover below). Balancing this are waiting periods, in particular for pre-existing conditions (usually referred to within the industry as PEA, which stands for "pre-existing ailment"). Funds are entitled to impose a waiting period of up to 12 months on benefits for any medical condition the signs and symptoms of which existed during the six months ending on the day the person first took out insurance. They are also entitled to impose a 12-month waiting period for benefits for treatment relating to an obstetric condition, and a 2-month waiting period for all other benefits when a person first takes out private insurance. Funds have the discretion to reduce or remove such waiting periods in individual cases. They are also free not to impose them, to begin with, but this would place such a fund at risk of "adverse selection", attracting a disproportionate number of members from other funds, or from the pool of intending members who might otherwise have joined other funds. It would also attract people with existing medical conditions, who might not otherwise have taken out insurance at all because of the denial of benefits for 12 months due to the PEA Rule. The benefits paid out for these conditions would create pressure on premiums for all the fund's members, causing some to drop their membership, which would lead to further rises in premiums, and a vicious cycle of higher premiums-leaving members would ensue.

The Australian government has introduced a number of incentives to encourage adults to take out private hospital insurance. These include:
 * Lifetime Health Cover: If a person has not taken out private hospital cover by 1 July after their 31st birthday, then when (and if) they do so after this time, their premiums must include a loading of 2% per annum for each year they were without hospital cover. Thus, a person taking out private cover for the first time at age 40 will pay a 20 percent loading. The loading is removed after 10 years of continuous hospital cover. The loading applies only to premiums for hospital cover, not to ancillary (extras) cover.
 * Medicare Levy Surcharge: People whose taxable income is greater than a specified amount (in the 2011/12 financial year $80,000 for singles and $168,000 for couples ) and who do not have an adequate level of private hospital cover must pay a 1% surcharge on top of the standard 1.5% Medicare Levy. The rationale is that if the people in this income group are forced to pay more money one way or another, most would choose to purchase hospital insurance with it, with the possibility of a benefit if they need private hospital treatment – rather than pay it in the form of extra tax as well as having to meet their own private hospital costs.
 * The Australian government announced in May 2008 that it proposes to increase the thresholds, to $100,000 for singles and $150,000 for families. These changes require legislative approval. A bill to change the law has been introduced but was not passed by the Senate. An amended version was passed on 16 October 2008. There have been criticisms that the changes will cause many people to drop their private health insurance, causing a further burden on the public hospital system, and a rise in premiums for those who stay with the private system. Other commentators believe the effect will be minimal.
 * Private Health Insurance Rebate: The government subsidises the premiums for all private health insurance cover, including hospital and ancillary (extras), by 10%, 20% or 30%, depending on age. The Rudd Government announced in May 2009 that as of July 2010, the Rebate would become means-tested, and offered on a sliding scale. While this move (which would have required legislation) was defeated in the Senate at the time, in early 2011 the Gillard Government announced plans to reintroduce the legislation after the Opposition loses the balance of power in the Senate. The ALP and Greens have long been against the rebate, referring to it as "middle-class welfare".

Canada
As per the Constitution of Canada, health care is mainly a provincial government responsibility in Canada (the main exceptions being federal government responsibility for services provided to aboriginal peoples covered by treaties, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the armed forces, and Members of Parliament). Consequently, each province administers its own health insurance program. The federal government influences health insurance by virtue of its fiscal powers – it transfers cash and tax points to the provinces to help cover the costs of the universal health insurance programs. Under the Canada Health Act, the federal government mandates and enforces the requirement that all people have free access to what are termed "medically necessary services," defined primarily as care delivered by physicians or in hospitals, and the nursing component of long-term residential care. If provinces allow doctors or institutions to charge patients for medically necessary services, the federal government reduces its payments to the provinces by the amount of the prohibited charges. Collectively, the public provincial health insurance systems in Canada are frequently referred to as Medicare. This public insurance is tax-funded out of general government revenues, although British Columbia and Ontario levy a mandatory premium with flat rates for individuals and families to generate additional revenues – in essence, a surtax. Private health insurance is allowed, but in six provincial governments only for services that the public health plans do not cover (for example, semi-private or private rooms in hospitals and prescription drug plans). Four provinces allow insurance for services also mandated by the Canada Health Act, but in practice, there is no market for it. All Canadians are free to use private insurance for elective medical services such as laser vision correction surgery, cosmetic surgery, and other non-basic medical procedures. Some 65% of Canadians have some form of supplementary private health insurance; many of them receive it through their employers. Private-sector services not paid for by the government account for nearly 30 percent of total health care spending.

In 2005, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled, in Chaoulli v. Quebec, that the province's prohibition on private insurance for health care already insured by the provincial plan violated the Quebec Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and in particular, the sections dealing with the right to life and security, if there were unacceptably long wait times for treatment, as was alleged in this case. The ruling has not changed the overall pattern of health insurance across Canada, but has spurred on attempts to tackle the core issues of supply and demand and the impact of wait times.

Cyprus
In 2020 in Cyprus introduced the General Healthcare System (GHS, also known as GESY) which is an independent insurance fund through which clinics, private doctors, pharmacists, laboratories, microbiological laboratories, and physiotherapists will be paid so that they can offer medical care to permanent residents of Cyprus who will be paying contributions to this fund.

In addition to GESY, more than 12 local and international insurance companies (e.g. Bupa, Aetna, Cigna, Metlife) provide individual and group medical insurance plans. The plans are divided into two main categories plans providing coverage from inpatient expenses (i.e. hospitalization, operations) and plans covering inpatient and outpatient expenses (such as doctor visits, medications, physio-therapies).

France
The national system of health insurance was instituted in 1945, just after the end of the Second World War. It was a compromise between Gaullist and Communist representatives in the French parliament. The Conservative Gaullists were opposed to a state-run healthcare system, while the Communists were supportive of a complete nationalisation of health care along a British Beveridge model.

The resulting programme is profession-based: all people working are required to pay a portion of their income to a not-for-profit health insurance fund, which mutualises the risk of illness, and which reimburses medical expenses at varying rates. Children and spouses of insured people are eligible for benefits, as well. Each fund is free to manage its own budget, and used to reimburse medical expenses at the rate it saw fit, however following a number of reforms in recent years, the majority of funds provide the same level of reimbursement and benefits.

The government has two responsibilities in this system.
 * The first government responsibility is the fixing of the rate at which medical expenses should be negotiated, and it does so in two ways: The Ministry of Health directly negotiates prices of medicine with the manufacturers, based on the average price of sale observed in neighboring countries. A board of doctors and experts decides if the medicine provides a valuable enough medical benefit to be reimbursed (most medicine is reimbursed, including homeopathy). In parallel, the government fixes the reimbursement rate for medical services: this means that a doctor is free to charge the fee that he wishes for a consultation or an examination, but the social security system will only reimburse it at a pre-set rate. These tariffs are set annually through negotiation with doctors' representative organisations.
 * The second government responsibility is oversight of the health-insurance funds, to ensure that they are correctly managing the sums they receive, and to ensure oversight of the public hospital network.

Today, this system is more or less intact. All citizens and legal foreign residents of France are covered by one of these mandatory programs, which continue to be funded by worker participation. However, since 1945, a number of major changes have been introduced. Firstly, the different health care funds (there are five: General, Independent, Agricultural, Student, Public Servants) now all reimburse at the same rate. Secondly, since 2000, the government now provides health care to those who are not covered by a mandatory regime (those who have never worked and who are not students, meaning the very rich or the very poor). This regime, unlike the worker-financed ones, is financed via general taxation and reimburses at a higher rate than the profession-based system for those who cannot afford to make up the difference. Finally, to counter the rise in health care costs, the government has installed two plans, (in 2004 and 2006), which require insured people to declare a referring doctor in order to be fully reimbursed for specialist visits, and which installed a mandatory co-pay of €1 for a doctor visit, €0.50 for each box of medicine prescribed, and a fee of €16–18 per day for hospital stays and for expensive procedures.

An important element of the French insurance system is solidarity: the more ill a person becomes, the less the person pays. This means that for people with serious or chronic illnesses, the insurance system reimburses them 100% of expenses, and waives their co-pay charges.

Finally, for fees that the mandatory system does not cover, there is a large range of private complementary insurance plans available. The market for these programs is very competitive, and often subsidised by the employer, which means that premiums are usually modest. 85% of French people benefit from complementary private health insurance.

Germany
Germany has the world's oldest national social health insurance system,

with origins dating back to Otto von Bismarck's Sickness Insurance Law of 1883.

Beginning with 10% of blue-collar workers in 1885, mandatory insurance has expanded; in 2009, insurance was made mandatory on all citizens, with private health insurance for the self-employed or above an income threshold. As of 2016, 85% of the population is covered by the compulsory Statutory Health Insurance (SHI) (Gesetzliche Krankenversicherung or GKV), with the remainder covered by private insurance (Private Krankenversicherung or PKV). Germany's health care system was 77% government-funded and 23% privately funded as of 2004. While public health insurance contributions are based on the individual's income, private health insurance contributions are based on the individual's age and health condition.

Reimbursement is on a fee-for-service basis, but the number of physicians allowed to accept Statutory Health Insurance in a given locale is regulated by the government and professional societies.

Co-payments were introduced in the 1980s in an attempt to prevent over utilization. The average length of hospital stay in Germany has decreased in recent years from 14 days to 9 days, still considerably longer than average stays in the United States (5 to 6 days). Part of the difference is that the chief consideration for hospital reimbursement is the number of hospital days as opposed to procedures or diagnosis. Drug costs have increased substantially, rising nearly 60% from 1991 through 2005. Despite attempts to contain costs, overall health care expenditures rose to 10.7% of GDP in 2005, comparable to other western European nations, but substantially less than that spent in the U.S. (nearly 16% of GDP).

Germans are offered three kinds of social security insurance dealing with the physical status of a person and which are co-financed by employer and employee: health insurance, accident insurance, and long-term care insurance. Long-term care insurance (Gesetzliche Pflegeversicherung) emerged in 1994 and is mandatory. Accident insurance (gesetzliche Unfallversicherung) is covered by the employer and basically covers all risks for commuting to work and at the workplace.

Greece
The National Health System in Greece covers both out and in-patient treatment. The out-patient treatment is carried out by social administrative structures as following: The in-patient treatment is carried out by: In Greece anyone can cover the hospitalization expenses using a private insurance policy, that can be bought by any of the local or multinational insurance companies that operate in the region (e.g. Metlife, Interamerican, Aetna, IMG).
 * EOPPY (National Organization for the Provision of Health Services): contracted private healthcare providers
 * PEDY (National Primary Healthcare Network) units: public healthcare
 * State hospitals, rural and regional medical units, health centers of the ESY (National Health System)
 * Private health professionals: Medical professionals and services not contracted with EOPYY.
 * State hospitals of the National Health System (ESY).
 * Private Clinics contracted with the National Health Carrier (EOPYY)
 * Private hospitals and clinics that are not contracted with the National Health Carrier.

India
In India, provision of health care services varies state-wise. Public health services are prominent in most of the states, but due to inadequate resources and management, major population opts for private health services.

To improve the awareness and better health care facilities, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India and The General Corporation of India runs health care campaigns for the whole population. IN 2018, for under privileged citizens, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the launch of a new public health insurance fund called Ayushman Bharat Yojana and the government claims that the new system will try to reach more than 500 million people.

In India, Health insurance is offered mainly in two Types:
 * Indemnity Plan basically covers the hospitalisation expenses and has subtypes like Individual Insurance, Family Floater Insurance, Senior Citizen Insurance, Maternity Insurance, Group Medical Insurance.
 * Fixed Benefit Plan pays a fixed amount for pre-decided diseases like critical illness, cancer, heart disease, etc. It has also its sub types like Preventive Insurance, Critical illness and Personal Accident.

Depending on the type of insurance and the company providing health insurance, coverage includes pre-and post-hospitalisation charges, ambulance charges, day care charges, Health Checkups, etc.

It is pivotal to know about the exclusions which are not covered under insurance schemes:
 * Treatment related to dental disease or surgeries
 * All kind of STD's and AIDS
 * Non-Allopathic Treatment

Few of the companies do provide insurance against such diseases or conditions, but that depends on the type and the insured amount.

Some important aspects to be considered before choosing the health insurance in India are Claim Settlement ratio, Insurance limits and Caps, Coverage and network hospitals.

Japan
There are three major types of insurance programs available in Japan: Employee Health Insurance (健康保険 Kenkō-Hoken), National Health Insurance (国民健康保険 Kokumin-Kenkō-Hoken), and the Late-stage Elderly Medical System (後期高齢医療制度 Kouki-Kourei-Iryouseido). Although private health insurance is available, all Japanese citizens, permanent residents, and non-Japanese with a visa lasting one year or longer are required to be enrolled in either National Health Insurance or Employee Health Insurance. National Health Insurance is designed for those who are not eligible for any employment-based health insurance program. The Late-stage Elderly Medical System is designed for people who are age 75 and older.

National Health Insurance is organised on a household basis. Once a household has applied, the entire family is covered. Applicants receive a health insurance card, which must be used when receiving treatment at a hospital. There is a required monthly premium, but co-payments are standardized so payers are only expected to cover ten to thirty percent of the cost, depending on age. If out-of-pocket costs exceed pre-determined limits, payers may apply for a rebate from the National Health Insurance program.

Employee Health Insurance covers diseases, injuries, and death regardless of whether an incident occurred at a workplace. Employee Health Insurance covers a maximum of 180 days of medical care per year for work-related diseases or injuries and 180 days per year for other diseases or injuries. Employers and employees must contribute evenly to be covered by Employee Health Insurance.

The Late-stage Elderly Medical System began in 1983 following the Health Care for the Aged Law of 1982. It allowed many health insurance systems to offer financial assistance to elderly people. There is a medical coverage fee. To be eligible, those insured must be either: older than 70, or older than 65 with a recognized disability. The Late-stage Elderly Medical System includes preventive and standard medical care.

Issues of the healthcare system
Due to Japan's aging population, the Late-stage Elderly Medical System represents one third of the country's total healthcare cost. When retiring employees shift from Employee Health Insurance to the Late-stage Elderly Medical System, the national cost of health insurance is expected to increase since individual healthcare costs tend to increase with age.

Netherlands
In 2006, a new system of health insurance came into force in the Netherlands. This new system avoids the two pitfalls of adverse selection and moral hazard associated with traditional forms of health insurance by using a combination of regulation and insurance equalization pool. Moral hazard is avoided by mandating that insurance companies provide at least one policy that meets a government set minimum standard level of coverage, and all adult residents are obliged by law to purchase this coverage from an insurance company of their choice. All insurance companies receive funds from the equalization pool to help cover the cost of this government-mandated coverage. This pool is run by a regulator which collects salary-based contributions from employers, which make up about 50% of all health care funding, and funding from the government to cover people who cannot afford health care, which makes up an additional 5%.

The remaining 45% of health care funding comes from insurance premiums paid by the public, for which companies compete on price, though the variation between the various competing insurers is only about 5%. However, insurance companies are free to sell additional policies to provide coverage beyond the national minimum. These policies do not receive funding from the equalization pool but cover additional treatments, such as dental procedures and physiotherapy, which are not paid for by the mandatory policy.

Funding from the equalization pool is distributed to insurance companies for each person they insure under the required policy. However, high-risk individuals get more from the pool, and low-income persons and children under 18 have their insurance paid for entirely. Because of this, insurance companies no longer find insuring high-risk individuals an unappealing proposition, avoiding the potential problem of adverse selection.

Insurance companies are not allowed to have co-payments, caps, or deductibles, or deny coverage to any person applying for a policy, or charge anything other than their nationally set and published standard premiums. Therefore, every person buying insurance will pay the same price as everyone else buying the same policy, and every person will get at least the minimum level of coverage. This applies to all people permanently living and working in the Netherlands. International students that move to the Netherlands for study purposes have to take out compulsory Dutch health insurance if they also decide to work (zero-hour contracts included) or do a paid internship during their stay. In that case, they'll need to take out the compulsory basic package of Dutch health insurance. Additional insurance is optional, depending on the student's personal needs.

New Zealand
Since 1974, New Zealand has had a system of universal no-fault health insurance for personal injuries through the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC). The ACC scheme covers most of the costs of related to treatment of injuries acquired in New Zealand (including overseas visitors) regardless of how the injury occurred, and also covers lost income (at 80 percent of the employee's pre-injury income) and costs related to long-term rehabilitation, such as home and vehicle modifications for those seriously injured. Funding from the scheme comes from a combination of levies on employers' payroll (for work injuries), levies on an employee's taxable income (for non-work injuries to salary earners), levies on vehicle licensing fees and petrol (for motor vehicle accidents), and funds from the general taxation pool (for non-work injuries to children, senior citizens, unemployed people, overseas visitors, etc.)

Rwanda
Rwanda is one of a handful of low income countries that has implemented community-based health insurance schemes in order to reduce the financial barriers that prevent poor people from seeking and receiving needed health services. This scheme has helped reach 90% of the country's population with health care coverage.

Singapore
Singaporeans have one of the longest life expectancy at birth in the world. During this long life, encountering uncertain situations requiring hospitalization are inevitable. Health insurance or medical insurance cover high healthcare costs during hospitalization.

Health insurance for Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents

MediShield Life, is a universal health insurance covering all Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents. MediShield Life covers hospitalization costs for a stay in ward B2 or C in a Public hospital. For the hospitalization in a Private hospital, or in ward A or B1 in Public hospital, MediShield Life coverage is pegged to B2 or C ward prices and insured is required to pay the remaining bill amount. This remaining bill amount can be paid using MediSave but limits are applied on the MediSave usage. MediShield Life does not cover overseas medical expenses and the treatment of serious pre-existing illnesses for which one has been receiving treatment during the 12 months before the start of the MediShield Life coverage. MediShield Life also does not cover treatment of congenital anomalies (medical conditions that are present at birth), cosmetic surgery, pregnancy-related charges and mental illness.

As the MediShield Life benefits are capped for B2 or C ward hospitalization in public hospitals, Integrated Shield plans provide coverage for the hospitalization in private hospitals, or ward A or B1 in public hospitals. Integrated Shield insurance plans cover large hospitalization bills for Private hospitals or, ward A or B1. However, insured is still required to pay a portion of the bill amount. This is in accordance with Singapore's healthcare philosophy which promotes personal responsibility with getting individuals to share the cost of healthcare. With this philosophy, deductible, co-insurance and peroration are applied on most of the Health Insurance plans in Singapore. Such health insurance plans provide an option to purchase a health insurance rider to cover these charges.

Health insurance for Foreigners in Singapore

Unlike Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents, Foreigners are not automatically covered by the MediShield Life. Foreigners can purchase the health insurance plans from several life insurers in Singapore.

South Korea
South Korea's life expectancy at birth was 82.7 years in 2017, higher than the OECD average of 80.8. Men's life expectancy was 79.7 years, higher than the OECD average of 78.1 years, and women's life expectancy was 85.7 years, higher than the average of 83.4 years.

Health care in South Korea is provided by the National Health Insurance (NHI), which is mandatory. Anyone residing in South Korea, regardless of nationality or occupation, can purchase this insurance.

Switzerland
Healthcare in Switzerland is universal and is regulated by the Swiss Federal Law on Health Insurance. Health insurance is compulsory for all persons residing in Switzerland (within three months of taking up residence or being born in the country). It is therefore the same throughout the country and avoids double standards in healthcare. Insurers are required to offer this basic insurance to everyone, regardless of age or medical condition. They are not allowed to make a profit off this basic insurance, but can on supplemental plans.

The universal compulsory coverage provides for treatment in case of illness or accident and pregnancy. Health insurance covers the costs of medical treatment, medication and hospitalization of the insured. However, the insured person pays part of the costs up to a maximum, which can vary based on the individually chosen plan, premiums are then adjusted accordingly. The whole healthcare system is geared towards to the general goals of enhancing general public health and reducing costs while encouraging individual responsibility.

The Swiss healthcare system is a combination of public, subsidized private and totally private systems. Insurance premiums vary from insurance company to company, the excess level individually chosen (franchise), the place of residence of the insured person and the degree of supplementary benefit coverage chosen (complementary medicine, routine dental care, semi-private or private ward hospitalization, etc.).

The insured person has full freedom of choice among the approximately 60 recognized healthcare providers competent to treat their condition (in their region) on the understanding that the costs are covered by the insurance up to the level of the official tariff. There is freedom of choice when selecting an insurance company to which one pays a premium, usually on a monthly basis. The insured person pays the insurance premium for the basic plan up to 8% of their personal income. If a premium is higher than this, the government gives the insured person a cash subsidy to pay for any additional premium.

The compulsory insurance can be supplemented by private "complementary" insurance policies that allow for coverage of some of the treatment categories not covered by the basic insurance or to improve the standard of room and service in case of hospitalization. This can include complementary medicine, routine dental treatment and private ward hospitalization, which are not covered by the compulsory insurance.

As far as the compulsory health insurance is concerned, the insurance companies cannot set any conditions relating to age, sex or state of health for coverage. Although the level of premium can vary from one company to another, they must be identical within the same company for all insured persons of the same age group and region, regardless of sex or state of health. This does not apply to complementary insurance, where premiums are risk-based.

Switzerland has an infant mortality rate of about 3.6 out of 1,000. The general life expectancy in 2012 was for men 80.5 years compared to 84.7 years for women. These are the world's best figures.

United Kingdom
The UK's National Health Service (NHS) is a publicly funded healthcare system that provides coverage to everyone normally resident in the UK. It is not strictly an insurance system because (a) there are no premiums collected, (b) costs are not charged at the patient level and (c) costs are not pre-paid from a pool. However, it does achieve the main aim of insurance which is to spread financial risk arising from ill-health. The costs of running the NHS (est. £104 billion in 2007–8) are met directly from general taxation. The NHS provides the majority of health care in the UK, including primary care, in-patient care, long-term health care, ophthalmology, and dentistry.

Private health care has continued parallel to the NHS, paid for largely by private insurance, but it is used by less than 8% of the population, and generally as a top-up to NHS services. There are many treatments that the private sector does not provide. For example, health insurance on pregnancy is generally not covered or covered with restricting clauses. Typical exclusions for Bupa schemes (and many other insurers) include:

aging, menopause and puberty; AIDS/HIV; allergies or allergic disorders; birth control, conception, sexual problems and sex changes; chronic conditions; complications from excluded or restricted conditions/ treatment; convalescence, rehabilitation and general nursing care ; cosmetic, reconstructive or weight loss treatment; deafness; dental/oral treatment (such as fillings, gum disease, jaw shrinkage, etc.); dialysis; drugs and dressings for out-patient or take-home use† ; experimental drugs and treatment; eyesight; HRT and bone densitometry; learning difficulties, behavioural and developmental problems; overseas treatment and repatriation; physical aids and devices; pre-existing or special conditions; pregnancy and childbirth; screening and preventive treatment; sleep problems and disorders; speech disorders; temporary relief of symptoms. († = except in exceptional circumstances) There are a number of other companies in the United Kingdom which include, among others, Chubb Limited, AXA, Aviva, Bupa, Groupama Healthcare, WPA and VitalityHealth. Similar exclusions apply, depending on the policy which is purchased.

In 2009, the main representative body of British Medical physicians, the British Medical Association, adopted a policy statement expressing concerns about developments in the health insurance market in the UK. In its Annual Representative Meeting which had been agreed earlier by the Consultants Policy Group (i.e. Senior physicians) stating that the BMA was "extremely concerned that the policies of some private healthcare insurance companies are preventing or restricting patients exercising choice about (i) the consultants who treat them; (ii) the hospital at which they are treated; (iii) making top up payments to cover any gap between the funding provided by their insurance company and the cost of their chosen private treatment." It went in to "call on the BMA to publicise these concerns so that patients are fully informed when making choices about private healthcare insurance." The practice of insurance companies deciding which consultant a patient may see as opposed to GPs or patients is referred to as Open Referral. The NHS offers patients a choice of hospitals and consultants and does not charge for its services.

The private sector has been used to increase NHS capacity despite a large proportion of the British public opposing such involvement. According to the World Health Organization, government funding covered 86% of overall health care expenditures in the UK as of 2004, with private expenditures covering the remaining 14%.

Nearly one in three patients receiving NHS hospital treatment is privately insured and could have the cost paid for by their insurer. Some private schemes provide cash payments to patients who opt for NHS treatment, to deter use of private facilities. A report, by private health analysts Laing and Buisson, in November 2012, estimated that more than 250,000 operations were performed on patients with private medical insurance each year at a cost of £359 million. In addition, £609 million was spent on emergency medical or surgical treatment. Private medical insurance does not normally cover emergency treatment but subsequent recovery could be paid for if the patient were moved into a private patient unit.

United States
Short Term Health Insurance

On the 1st of August, 2018 the DHHS issued a final rule which made federal changes to Short-Term, Limited-Duration Health Insurance (STLDI) which lengthened the maximum contract term to 364 days and renewal for up to 36 months. This new rule, in combination with the expiration of the penalty for the Individual Mandate of the Affordable Care Act, has been the subject of independent analysis.

The United States health care system relies heavily on private health insurance, which is the primary source of coverage for most Americans. As of 2018, 68.9% of American adults had private health insurance, according to The Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) found that in 2011, private insurance was billed for 12.2 million U.S. inpatient hospital stays and incurred approximately $112.5 billion in aggregate inpatient hospital costs (29% of the total national aggregate costs). Public programs provide the primary source of coverage for most senior citizens and for low-income children and families who meet certain eligibility requirements. The primary public programs are Medicare, a federal social insurance program for seniors and certain disabled individuals; and Medicaid, funded jointly by the federal government and states but administered at the state level, which covers certain very low income children and their families. Together, Medicare and Medicaid accounted for approximately 63 percent of the national inpatient hospital costs in 2011. SCHIP is a federal-state partnership that serves certain children and families who do not qualify for Medicaid but who cannot afford private coverage. Other public programs include military health benefits provided through TRICARE and the Veterans Health Administration and benefits provided through the Indian Health Service. Some states have additional programs for low-income individuals.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, health advocacy companies began to appear to help patients deal with the complexities of the healthcare system. The complexity of the healthcare system has resulted in a variety of problems for the American public. A study found that 62 percent of persons declaring bankruptcy in 2007 had unpaid medical expenses of $1000 or more, and in 92% of these cases the medical debts exceeded $5000. Nearly 80 percent who filed for bankruptcy had health insurance. The Medicare and Medicaid programs were estimated to soon account for 50 percent of all national health spending. These factors and many others fueled interest in an overhaul of the health care system in the United States. In 2010 President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. This Act includes an 'individual mandate' that every American must have medical insurance (or pay a fine). Health policy experts such as David Cutler and Jonathan Gruber, as well as the American medical insurance lobby group America's Health Insurance Plans, argued this provision was required in order to provide "guaranteed issue" and a "community rating," which address unpopular features of America's health insurance system such as premium weightings, exclusions for pre-existing conditions, and the pre-screening of insurance applicants. During 26–28 March, the Supreme Court heard arguments regarding the validity of the Act. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was determined to be constitutional on 28 June 2012. The Supreme Court determined that Congress had the authority to apply the individual mandate within its taxing powers.

History and evolution
In the late 19th century, "accident insurance" began to be available, which operated much like modern disability insurance. This payment model continued until the start of the 20th century in some jurisdictions (like California), where all laws regulating health insurance actually referred to disability insurance.

Accident insurance was first offered in the United States by the Franklin Health Assurance Company of Massachusetts. This firm, founded in 1850, offered insurance against injuries arising from railroad and steamboat accidents. Sixty organizations were offering accident insurance in the U.S. by 1866, but the industry consolidated rapidly soon thereafter. While there were earlier experiments, the origins of sickness coverage in the U.S. effectively date from 1890. The first employer-sponsored group disability policy was issued in 1911.

Before the development of medical expense insurance, patients were expected to pay health care costs out of their own pockets, under what is known as the fee-for-service business model. During the middle-to-late 20th century, traditional disability insurance evolved into modern health insurance programs. One major obstacle to this development was that early forms of comprehensive health insurance were enjoined by courts for violating the traditional ban on corporate practice of the professions by for-profit corporations. State legislatures had to intervene and expressly legalize health insurance as an exception to that traditional rule. Today, most comprehensive private health insurance programs cover the cost of routine, preventive, and emergency health care procedures. They also cover or partially cover the cost of certain prescription and over-the-counter drugs. Insurance companies determine what drugs are covered based on price, availability, and therapeutic equivalents. The list of drugs that an insurance program agrees to cover is called a formulary. Additionally, some prescriptions drugs may require a prior authorization before an insurance program agrees to cover its cost. Hospital and medical expense policies were introduced during the first half of the 20th century. During the 1920s, individual hospitals began offering services to individuals on a pre-paid basis, eventually leading to the development of Blue Cross organizations. The predecessors of today's Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) originated beginning in 1929, through the 1930s and on during World War II.

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) regulated the operation of a health benefit plan if an employer chooses to establish one, which is not required. The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) gives an ex-employee the right to continue coverage under an employer-sponsored group health benefit plan.

Through the 1990s, managed care insurance schemes including health maintenance organizations (HMO), preferred provider organizations, or point of service plans grew from about 25% US employees with employer-sponsored coverage to the vast majority. With managed care, insurers use various techniques to address costs and improve quality, including negotiation of prices ("in-network" providers), utilization management, and requirements for quality assurance such as being accredited by accreditation schemes such as the Joint Commission and the American Accreditation Healthcare Commission.

Employers and employees may have some choice in the details of plans, including health savings accounts, deductible, and coinsurance. As of 2015, a trend has emerged for employers to offer high-deductible plans, called consumer-driven healthcare plans which place more costs on employees, while employees benefit by paying lower monthly premiums. Additionally, having a high-deductible plan allows employees to open a health savings account, which allows them to contribute pre-tax savings towards future medical needs. Some employers will offer multiple plans to their employees.

Russia
The private health insurance market, known in Russian as "voluntary health insurance" (добровольное медицинское страхование, ДМС) to distinguish it from state-sponsored Mandatory Medical Insurance, has experienced sustained levels of growth. It was introduced in October 1992.

title: Health insurance