| Young Man''s Benefit: The Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Sickness Insurance in the United States and Canada, 1860-1929 Subjects: Independent Order of Odd Fellows -- Canada -- History; Independent Order of Odd Fellows -- United States -- History; Insurance Fraternal -- Canada -- History; Insurance Fraternal -- United States -- History; Insurance Health -- Canada -- History; Insur; In the past a family's chief cost of sickness was loss of the family head's earning, not expenses for health care. Since there were no government programs, sickness insurance provided by friendly societies, commercial insurers, and other institutions was important in partially replacing the wage earner's lost income. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) was the largest social society in Canada and the United States and also the largest provider of sickness insurance. Emery George : George Emery is professor emeritus of history at the University of Western Ontario and the author of The Methodist Church on the Prairies, 1896-1914. |