The Community Health Foundation of Cleveland
The Community Health Foundation of Cleveland
The Community Health Foundation of Cleveland
UTNTIL I959 Ohio statutes that govern prepaid health plans were
restrictive and, among their many limitations, was the condition
that at least 5 I per cent of all the physicians in any area had to approve
a new health plan before it could be established. This was like asking
one department store if it wanted another one to move next door, and
it is not surprising that no community health foundation type of pro-
gram emerged. In i959 a law was enacted which allowed any consumer
group to establish a prepaid health program and to negotiate with pro-
viders on any terms mutually acceptable to both parties. Among those
involved in the passage of permissive legislation for prepaid group
practice was a group who wanted such a program for northeastern
Ohio. This group had the foresight and understanding to secure expert
technical consultation, and the health plan which emerged was a com-
munity program in which none of the sponsoring groups retained a
proprietary interest.
The Community Health Foundation of Cleveland is a direct-service,
prepaid, group-practice health plan. Direct-service prepayment means
that each family pays a single monthly premium which entitles all the
members of that family to receive medical care. There are no fees for
individual services. The services are provided by an organized group of
physicians but cash payments are not made for individual services.
Group practice, like prepayment, is necessary because of the increased
cost and the improved technology of modern medicine. Medical care is
provided by many different specialists. No single physician is able to
provide all of the medical services which have been developed. Teamwork
among physicians, either within the same specialty or in more than
*Presented in a panel, New Developments in Prepaid Group Practice, as part of the 1968
Health Conference of The New York Academy of Medicine, Group Practice: Problems and Per-
spectives, held at the Academy, April 25 and 26, 1968.