Evening star., 1936-12-19
HEALTH INSURANCE
ARGUMENT MADE
A. T. of l.. Presents Side
for Expansion of Social
Security Law.

A Federal system OF ne1ltH W.
surance is urged By the American
Federation OF Labor and opposed
bu the American Medical Associd-
ton. In the first OF ttDo stories
the Associated Press presents argu-
,rents OF the labor federation tn
behalf OF expanding the social
security ldD to include insurance
AGAINST sickness. A second story
DiU outline the medical dSsocia-
tion's opposition.
The American Federation of Labor
estimates that sickness costs the aver
age American family $108 year.
For the family with an annual in
come under $1,000 it puts the bill
at $50
In those figures, the federation con-
tends, are found the two chief argu-
ments in favor of Federal sickness in
surance:
l. That the family with the least
income gets the least medical service.
2. That average costs do the citizen
very little good when suddenly he is
faced with a 5000 hospital bill.
Other Arguments.
Medical care is not provided ac-
eording to need, but according to
capacity to pay" the A. F. of L. says
In a special report.
The Committee (on the Cost of
Medical Care) found that medical
b~yy oil
was less than adequate and that the
lower income groups received less than
the higher levels, although the Incl
dence of illness was practically the
same in all families or for all indi-
viduals. = =
"Out of 1000 900 persons in a nor
NAL year, 100000 will have no recog-
nizable illness; 100000 will be sick
once: 100000 will be sick twice; $4,000
will be sick three times; 10000 will be
sick four or more times.
mo person can tell in advance into
which group he or his family will fall
Practically no family with an in
come of less than $4,000 could bear
the cost of a major illness without
undergoing hardship. Nine out of
every ten families have annual in
comes under $4,000.
"A study of costs of sickness in 1000
typical families with incomes ranging
from $1,000 to $4,000 showed the cost
of medical care for sickness in 218 of
these families amounted to over 500
In 80 families costs exceeded 5000, and
in 16 of these 80 families they ranged
from $400 to $500, or about one-third
Of the family income.
Division of Cost Urged.
And so, the federation argues, let's
divide up the cost Of every ones illness
among every one.
The low-income family, it says, could
afford to pay $50 year for illness II
the cost never exceeded that amount
Although the individual of the
lower income groups cannot foresee
sickness and save against the need for
medical care, it is possible to pre-
dict both the incidence Frequency
and duration, and accumulate group
reserves for payment of medical care
If the group is large enough"
william Green, Federation presi-
dent, said today he would ask Presi-
dent Roosevelt soon to set up Fed
eral commission to recommend sick
ness insurance legislation for inclu-
sion in the social security program.
I'VE made attacks on all forms of
the major causes of social insecurity
accidents, sickness. unemployment.
old age-without developing a unified
or comprehensive program until 1895.
when the social security act was
passed." Green said.
"It seemed expedient at that time
not to include health insurance. But
sickness is an increased cost which
bankrupts many families, and no pro-
gram for social security is complete
without provisions for sickness"