The founders believed that health care could be improved by combining prepayment of services, eliminating the financial barriers faced by patients at the time of needed care, with the sharing of medical records and the ease of consultation in a medical group. The focus was on the improvement of medical care quality, rather than financial success, and many concepts in those plans built on a public health approach that encouraged prevention. The plans included prenatal care, well-baby visits, and immunizations in standard benefit packages, with small or zero co-payments, at a time that even the hospital costs of maternity stays were often excluded from traditional insurance.
