title: [A lead seal of the "Germanos' Health Service" as an early forerunner of the health insurance card in ancient Byzantium].
abstract: The aim of this study is to present a Byzantine lead seal from the 6th century A. D. in the light of other comparable finds and to explain its function. According to the Greek inscription it was issued by the so-called "Germanos' Health Service". Its beneficiaries carried it probably around the neck or wrist. This charitable institution, settled in Constantinople, supported people in need. Feeding of the poor and free access to the baths certainly belonged to the standard services of the "Germanos' Health Service". Several reasons favour the assumption that medical help was also included in the range of benefits offered to people to whom it would have otherwise been out of reach. Contrary to the modern Health Insurance there was no legal claim to the medical care. It was rather a voluntary charitable supply that is to be seen in the context of Christian love and of personal striving for the salvation of the soul through good deeds. Therefore, the seal of the "Germanos' Health Service" belongs at least indirectly among the forerunners of the modern Health Insurance Card which ought to give access to participation in the blessing of good health.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Geschichte und Ethik der Medizin, Universität zu Köln, Joseph-Stelzmann-Strasse 9, Gebäude 29, 50931 Köln.
authors.forename: Ferdinand Peter
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Moog
mesh_terms: D018612:Byzantium; D002608:Charities / Q000266:history*; D049690:History, Ancient; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000266:history*