the age of 50 years; if the obligation of insurance ceases on account of undeserved unemployment he shall, on the above-mentioned condition, regardless of his age, income, or ability to produce a certificate of good health, be entitled to remain in the society as a voluntary member for six months, provided that he has been a member of the local sickness society for at least a half year immediately preceding; (b) that of a person who has formerly been a voluntary member, provided that in addition to the usual advance premiums he pays back premiums from the age of 40 years. A voluntary member is under obligation to report once a year to the local sickness society concerning his income and property. If he fails to do this or gives incorrect information, he ceases to be a member.

If a voluntary member becomes subject to insurance, he at once. becomes a compulsorily insured member of the local sickness society in the circumscription of which he works. A voluntary member ceases to be insured if he withdraws, if he fails to pay his premium within one month after it falls due, or if his income or property comes to exceed the prescribed maximum. In the case of sickness during the first month after the premium falls due, the amount of the unpaid premium is deducted from that of the pecuniary aid. If undeserved unemployment has been the cause of the nonpayment of the premium, in due time the directors of the society may grant an extension of time for one month.

INCOME CLASSES.

Every person who, compulsorily or voluntarily, is a member of a local sickness society is to be assigned by the board of directors to the income class to which he belongs, according to the following table, and to the proper risk class:

INCOME CLASSES OF MEMBERS OF LOCAL SICKNESS SOCIETIES.
[Source: Die Arbeiter-Versicherung im Auslande, Dr. Zacher, Heft IIIb, 1908, p. 26*.]

A transfer from one risk class to another may, provided the person concerned remains in the service of the same employer, be made only semiannually.

Persons subject to insurance who receive no wages, and voluntarily insured persons who have no income, are assigned to the first income class. On proposal of the Royal Institution of Insurance or of a local sickness society, the government department concerned

may decree that entire classes of workmen in certain regions or in the whole Kingdom shall be assigned to a particular income class regardless of their individual incomes. The daily income is estimated as one three-hundredths of the annual, one twenty-fifth of the monthly, and one-sixth of the weekly income. In the lack of sufficient information the size of the income is fixed according to the judgment of the directors of the sickness societies. Wages or income in the sense of this law shall include all compensation which the person concerned receives in payment for work or service rendered, regardless of whether the payment is made by a third person or not. If the wages consist, wholly or partly, in other than money payments their value in money shall be estimated according to the average current local prices.

Pecuniary aid and premiums are to be reckoned in proportion to the average daily wage, which is estimated for the different income classes as follows:

First income class.
Second income class
Third income class...
Fourth income class

1.00 crown (26.8 cents.). 1.50 crowns (40.2 cents). 2.50 crowns (67 cents). 3.50 crowns (93.8 cents).

BENEFITS.

The local sickness societies shall render the following aid: To a member himself (a) free medical attendance and the first supply of such accessories as eyeglasses, trusses, etc., and, when surgical treatment is required, bandages and the medicaments required for such treatment according to the physician's order; (b) in case of sickness due to injuries coming under the accident insurance law, free medicine; (c) in case of invalidity, pecuniary aid equal to 60 per cent of the average daily wages in the income class in question; but the pecuniary aid, together with any payment the person concerned, receives for work during his sickness, or with any pecuniary aid he may receive from private sickness insurance, shall not amount to more than 90 per cent of his actual income at the beginning of his sickness. For persons who work for no wages and voluntarily insured persons who have no income the total pecuniary aid shall not amount to more than 60 öre (16 cents) per day; (d) in the case of confinement, pecuniary aid for six weeks and, if necessary, physician's attendance. These grants are made on condition that the woman has been a member of a public or recognized private or communal sickness society for at least 10 consecutive months immediately preceding. If sickness results, the usual sickness aid shall be given in place of the confinement aid; (e) burial aid equal to 25 times the average daily wages in the income class concerned, but not more than 50 crowns ($13.40). To the wife or husband of the

member for whom he or she provides, and to children under 15 years living at home, free medical attendance only,

In place of the usual grants mentioned above, care in a hospital or asylum may, by the advice of the physician, be given; in case of an industrial accident, the Royal Institution of Insurance may, in accordance with the industrial insurance law, require that this be done.

During a person's care in a hospital no pecuniary aid is paid him, but if he has relatives dependent on him they shall be given pecuniary aid equal to 20 per cent of the average daily wages if there is only one dependent, 35 per cent if there are two, and 50 per cent if there are three or more.

Pecuniary aid is paid for six days in the week while the person is incapacitated for work, but not for the first three days of sickness and not to exceed 26 weeks in any one case of sickness. A recurrence of the same sickness within a year is regarded as a continuation of the first case, and pecuniary aid shall not be given for more than 26 weeks altogether. If a member has thus received pecuniary aid for 26 weeks he shall not receive pecuniary aid for more than 13 weeks for new attacks of the same sickness during the following year; but if no such attack occurs during this year a subsequent attack is to be regarded as a new case and treated accordingly. If for the same case of sickness a member has received aid in the same society or in several societies for 39 weeks altogether for the same sickness, in accordance with the foregoing provisions, he shall receive no more aid for this sickness until two years have expired and he has been, during this whole time, free from the sickness in question. Every day in the hospital is counted as one day of pecuniary aid.

In the case of sickness due to an industrial accident, the local sickness society is not required to give aid for more than four weeks, but the Royal Institution of Insurance may require that it shall continue the aid after this time with the assurance of reimbursement by the royal institution from the funds of accident insurance. In the case of an injured person who did not have sickness insurance at the time of the accident and is not assured of full wages for three months the Royal Institution of Insurance may require that the local society shall care for such person, on the above-mentioned conditions.

If a workman, while temporarily employed in a foreign country, is entitled to aid under this law his employer is under obligation to render the aid himself, but he shall be reimbursed by the local society. While a servant is receiving care in sickness in the home of his master the latter receives the pecuniary aid due the servant under the law. The master shall give such care for four weeks unless the sick person can, with the approval of a physician, be put into a hospital.

AID TO SEAMEN.

When a sick seaman receives care on board ship or in a hospital, seamen's home or other similar institution in a foreign port, the local society to which the seaman belongs discharges its obligations, not to him, but to the one on whose account the care is given.

If a member of a sickness society becomes sick during temporary residence in the circumscription of another society, the former may require the latter to render the sickness aid, but shall afterwards repay the expenses incurred.

NOTICES.

The law requires that members who fall sick or are confined shall promptly send the society notice of the fact together with the information required. The same rule holds true in case of the death of a member. If a member of a local sickness society has been injured in an industrial accident, the Royal Institution of Insurance shall, as soon as possible, inform the local sickness society whether the injury is recognized as involving a claim under the law, whether the victim has a right to free medicine, and whether, if he requires care after the first four weeks, the society is to continue to give it on the royal institution's account. In the same way the Royal Institution of Insurance is to send notice to the local society concerned, if a person who is not a member of any sickness society meets with an industrial accident, as to whether the person injured is to be cared for by the society.

INCOME AND FUNDS OF THE LOCAL SICKNESS SOCIETIES.

To meet its expenses a local society has a right to require the payment of premiums according to the scale in force for the society at the time. In case the society has no fixed scale a model scale, to be drawn by the government department concerned, applies. In this connection it is presumed that the premiums cover the expenses of the societies.

The scales shall contain special premiums for the different income classes and account shall also be taken of the different degrees of risk in the different industries. To this end the members may be distributed among different risk classes, the number of which shall not exceed four.

The premiums are always reckoned for the whole calendar week (6) working days), no matter on what day in the week the obligation of insurance begins or ceases or voluntary insurance goes into effect.

Premiums are to be paid as follows: In the case of a compulsorily insured member, six-tenths by the member, one-tenth by his employer, one-tenth by the commune, and two-tenths by the State:

in the case of a voluntary member, seven-tenths by the member, one-tenth by the commune, and two-tenths by the State.

The employer of a workman compulsorily insured shall pay his own share and that of the workman weekly; and if the workman receives wages his share shall be deducted from them. If a member is employed by several different employers, in work which involves the obligation of insurance, each of the employers is responsible for the entire premium, but the insured workmen shall select one of his employers to make the payments to the local sickness society. Disputes among employers in this connection are settled by the directors of the society.

At the end of each half year the commune pays its share of the premiums to the society concerned, and the society notifies the Royal Institution of the amount of the State's share, whereupon the institution draws the amount from the state treasury and, after deducting a certain fraction to add to an adjustment fund for sickness. insurance, sends the rest to the sickness society concerned. The Royal Institution of Insurance decides for three years at a time how large a fraction of the amount shall be set aside for the adjustment fund; but it must never be more than one-fourth.

If a local society has a surplus this shall be set aside as a reserve fund. If the reserve fund amounts, in the course of five years, to the average annual income from premiums during the last three years, it may, on proposal of the directors of the society, reduce all or part of the rates in the scale.

In case of a deficit which can not be covered from the reserve fund of the society a temporary loan may be secured from the adjustment fund. If the royal institution deems best the loan may not be repaid; but the society must take steps to provide a larger income.

The business manager is paid a certain per cent, but not more than 5 per cent, of the amount of premiums collected.

ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION.

One public sickness society, at least, shall be established in every commune. The central administrative authority is the Royal Institution of Insurance. Besides administering the law as a whole, the institution endeavors, by means of the adjustment fund, to equalize the risks among the various societies. The expenses of the royal institution in administering this law are borne by the State.

Only persons (men or women) who pay premiums for their own insurance are counted as members of the local sickness society. Members who are not under 21 years of age are entitled to vote and hold office in the society. Employers who are under obligation to contribute to the sickness society and who are not under 21 years of age are entitled to vote and to hold office.