Friendly societies and sickness coverage in the absence of state provision in Spain (1870-1935)

Abstract

[Abstract]: This paper stems from the book Origins of American Health Insurance: A History of Industrial Sickness Funds, published by John Murray in 2007, which has served as a basic reference point for our research work in recent years. In particular, this study aims to analyse the origin and development of friendly societies in Spain prior to the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), taking their key economic role, especially in the sickness scheme, as study perspective. In this analysis, it can be seen how the initial pecuniary aid offered by friendly societies became a service of medical and pharmaceutical provision that drove their development in the country’s more urban areas within a context where state sickness insurance was lacking.