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its application to people on a large scale.

Why was he interested in this?

I don't know why he was interested. He is interested and he's been a great factor in the life of the city and in the Health Insurance Plan of New York. He just happened to be interested.

Dr. Baer was Fiorello La Guardia's chief medical adviser. David Hyman and Dr. Baer proposed to La Guardia a comprehensive medical service which would be started by the City Government of New York. The City Government was to pay half of the insurance for its employees, which numbered with their families around 200,000; the employees were to pay the other half of the cost.

The charter of this organization was drawn up. Albert and I signed. We also got Henry J. Kaiser to be one of the signatories. In the beginning there was some hope that we would merge Group Health Insurance with HIP, but in the end, Winslow Carlton and Hyman disagreed to violently that it was impossible.

Before the plan could get underway La Guardia died of cancer of the pancreas. It was then a great worry to us as to whether or not the next mayor would go ahead with the plan, for without the City Government participating on behalf of its employees we had nothing.