All but a nominal amount was paid for by her sickness fund.

Unless they are either very poor or pretty well off, the law requires them to become members of one of 1,147 "sickness funds."

For his workers, he set up a sickness fund, a funeral expense fund, and a savings bank.

Private supplementary insurance to the sickness funds of various sorts is available.

There are 850 "sickness funds" covering the 92 percent of the German population legally required to join them.

The sickness funds negotiate fee-reimbursement schedules with regional associations of doctors taking part in the plans, as most do.

Private insurance covers only 8 percent of the population - people with incomes over the maximum for signing up with a sickness fund.

Moreover, sickness funds went practically bankrupt by the mid-1970s.

Other countries are largely funded by contributions by employers and employees to sickness funds.

The rate is the same for single and married wage-earners, with or without dependents, in any given sickness fund.