HistoryLink.org

In 1970, as the Boeing recession known as the "Boeing Bust" continues on its economic nosedive, Group Health Cooperative enrollment shoots up. The effects of 60,000 laid off Beoing workers (added to workers laid off the previous year) ripples through King County, with King County Medical Society losing 100,000 members, and Group Health gaining 14,000 members. Many unemployed Boeing workers choose "group conversion" to Group Health to maintain health coverage at their own expense while they seek new jobs.

Group Health coverage was more expensive than that of King County Medical Society, but the coverage was more comprehensive. This promised a measure of security in insecure times. By the end of 1970, Group Health enrollment had reached nearly 136,000 enrollees.

Sources: Walt Crowley, To Serve the Greatest Number: A History of Group Health Cooperative of Seattle (Seattle: GHC/University of Washington Press, 1995), 130.

Licensing: This essay is licensed under a Creative Commons license that encourages reproduction with attribution. Credit should be given to both HistoryLink.org and to the author, and sources must be included with any reproduction. Click the icon for more info. Please note that this Creative Commons license applies to text only, and not to images. For more information regarding individual photos or images, please contact the source noted in the image credit.

Major Support for HistoryLink.org Provided By: The State of Washington | Patsy Bullitt Collins | Paul G. Allen Family Foundation | Museum Of History & Industry | 4Culture (King County Lodging Tax Revenue) | City of Seattle | City of Bellevue | City of Tacoma | King County | The Peach Foundation | Microsoft Corporation, Other Public and Private Sponsors and Visitors Like You