In 1930 in a moderately priced hospital such as the new Baker Memorial Pavilion of the Massachusetts General Hospital,-a bed in a nine-bed ward cost $4 a day; in a four-bed room,$4.50 a day; in a two-bed room, $5.50 a day; and in a single room, $6.50 a day. These rates did not include private nursing or private medical and surgical care.

By mid decade medical expenses for the average family amounted to $56 dollars a year. Individuals averaged $18. Families with an income of less than $500 a year paid an average of $16 a year for their health care, while wealthier families making more than $20,000 paid an average of $899 a year for their medical expenses. Measles cost $4.81 to treat; chicken pox, $1.82; and whooping cough, $6.27. A fractured limb meant an expense of $18.07,.and a tonsillectomy cost $47.37. Childbirth costs averaged $98.74. Chronic diseases meant a lifetime outlay of $25.56 to...