Norwich bulletin., 1917-03-27
MUCH iNTEHEsT IN
 SENATOR sARNES BILL. Health Bill Propesss Obligatory ipsur. anee of Workingmen and Women.

state board of health has the following to say in regard to the health Dili introduced by Senator J. H. Barnes: in the . connecticut meet s biii for I health ' in surance introduced by Senator Barnes at. It's two hearings before the com mittee on insurance at Hartford on Feb. z7th and March I5th. A number pioyers, the medical profession, eco nomfsts and the insurance commission CT, spoke before the committee, mostly
 in favor of the measure- Dr. Andrews. association for labor legislation. MT. Chamberlain, who in a large measure drafted the bill, Dr. Cassidy of Nor wien, Professor Henderson or Yale. the undersigned, and others spoke in fa- vor of the bii,. The only opposition was from Howell Cheney and Mir. Buck, representing employers. and they insurance. In fact, MT. Cheney is en- thusiastica1iy in favor of this principle. Ills chief objection to the present bill is to a fixed proportion to be paid by desirabie to vary the proportion to correspond to the degree Of responsi- ! biity. He favors the appointment of
 a commission to study the subject. No
 objection to such conmission was | tee does not report the bill itself fa- vorabiy, 1t will probably recommend a commission.
 Because we have e. democratic form
 of goyernnent we have peacefully as- stunned that our civilization is more advanced than others, but while we have rested complacentiy on the oars, other nations have forged ahead of us | in important ways. The United States has at present the unenviable distinc- tion of being the only great industrial nation without universal health insur- ance for workingmen.
 The health insurance bills propose the obligatory insurance of substan- tially all workingmen and women. In case of sickness the insured will re- ceive medical, surgical or dental ser- vice, medicines, and nursing, and a cash benefit amounting to two-thirds the period of illness up to six months. Benefits are paid for at cost by the joint con ontributions of the insured em- ploye, his employer and the state The cost to the employe will average about 1 1-2 per cent. of his wages, that to the employer an equal amount. and that 1 to the state half of either of these, i. e., one-fifth of the total.
 Some people have objected to mak- | ing health insurance compulsory, but | in this regard workmenis health insur- ance is like elementary education. In order that its desirable results may be attained, it must be universal, and in order to be universal, it must be obli- gatory.
 Outside of workmen's compensation, | the worfSingmen in this country have | made very little use of the insurance l principle. Yet 1t is the workingmen | whose need of health insurance is greatest, because, first, the worker is more likely to lose his health than the | capitalist; it is well known that the death rate, and therefore the sickness | rate, among working people is from | two to three times that among the | well-to-do: and, second, because any | loss from sickness is a far more vital matter to the laborer than to the rich | himself of necessary medical, surgical | and nursing aid. When he most needs
 it he cannot pay for it.
 It should be noted that. like other forms of insurance: health insurance \ will bring not only indemnification | against loss, but also diminution of I the loss itself. As important as is in | surance against loss. it is far less i'm l self According to the calculations of | the national conservation commission l at least 42 per cent. of the deaths now occurring in the United States are IIn-
 necessary. that is. over 63o.00o lives could be saved annually, which would add at least Is years to the average | human life. Health insurance is bound ! to afford very powerful and pervasive stimulus to employers. employees and officials to prevent illness by the use l of health saving devices, in the same way that the workmen's compensation | insurance recently adopted in the | United States has caused the inaugu- l ra ton of all kinds of accident pre- venting appliances. Just as employ CTS have installed safeguards for dan | gerous machinery in order to reduce | the cost of workmen's compensation, | so in order to reduce the cost of health | insurance they will supply, for in- ! stance, better sanitation ventilation
 and lighting, more physiological hours | of labor. and fuller consideration for | the special needs of employed women l other hand, will be likewise stimulat- ed to welcome and to utilize factory
 hygiene, and improve his own domes- l tic and individual hygiene.
 | Both employer and employe will CO., | operate with the general public in
 securing ibetter water supply. better | sewerage systems. better milk, meat l and food laws. better school hygiene.
 proper regulations of health -impairing g 1 conditions.
 1 One important effect of such atten- | ton to the health of the workman l especially of its earning period. Fewer 1 workingmen will be thrown the scrap heap in their 4o's with all the | tragic consequences involved to their families as well as to themseives. Health insurance will also operate. as it did in Germany, to stimulate 1 general scientific study of disease pre- 1 vention, the future possibilities of
 which though unknown are surely enormous.
 But prevention of disease and dis ability is not the only prevention to \ be effected by health insurance. It will indirectly but powerfully tend to reduce poverty because it will tide the poor man over his illnesses and pre- vent him at those critical times from getting entirely down and out" ] which is the chief road to poverty. We may also expect health insurance | to help forward industrial peace, for l 1t will provide the means of bringing employers and employees together. Health insurance is in essence a pre- device and if we expect to keep peace IrxTIs IUTTT ~rE1EST 11oT9rRs a