In fact, some New Deal programs borrowed ideas from things already done in Europe. For instance, already in the late 19th century, Germany under the leadership of Otto von Bismarck passed the Health Insurance Bill (1883), the Accident Insurance Bill (1884), and the Old Age and Disability Insurance Bill (1889). Such reforms in Germany continued after Bismarck ended his service as chancellor, with the Workers Protection Act (1891).
Germany's Old Age and Disability Insurance Bill of 1889 provided a pattern and precedent for the United States' Social Security Act, signed into law in 1935.
