Evening star., 1938-08-01

Of illness. Another 80 per cent Of the
families bear II per cent Of the costs,
while the remaining So per cent Of
the families bear only l8 per cent of
the costs.
The same family may not stay III the
same sickness group year after year.
The incidence OF serious illness Is ex-
tremely uneven among persons of the
same income That is the reason ad-
vanced for cooperative methods Of
payment for medical care; by spread
ing the cost over the whole member
ship. these methods provide adequate
service to all at the cost OF moderate
and uniform charge to each.
This type Of organization Is already
familiar in the United States in deal
ing with hospital charges, and has
proved highly successful. Group hos
pital plans on . cooperative basis are
in force in over so cities and cover
more than 10000 subscribers.
These facts make 1t amply clear
that the medical professions present
efforts to meet the problem Of making
its knowledge and skill generally avail
able have not proved successful even
from its own point Of view.
Relief Families Not Helped.
Cooperative health associations are
primarily aimed TO help families not
on relief Theirs Is the most pressing
medical problem today because they
have no public funds and will not 90
to charity. Many studies OF the prob
lem, such as the report Of the Com
mittee on Costs Of Medical Care, q
research committee organized under q
foundation grant, bring out the fact
that the moderate income groups have
peculiar difficulty in providing ade-
quate medical service for themselves
The medically INDECENT in many To-
calities have access to free clinics or
charitable services by doctors, and
their unsatisfied needs may be more
amply filled than at present by an ex-
pansion OF private charity or govern
mental grants. But those with in
come enough to pay for some medical
service either cannot avail themselves
of these free facilities, or because of
Self-respect they do not desire to do
so. Such persons experience no difn-
Guilty when their medical needs are
slight: but when serious illness strikes
or several members Of the family re-
quire attention within . short time,
the financial burden is excessive.
Values Of Association Not Question.
AS has been stated above, these OBJ
servations are made to put this pro-
ceeding in its proper setting. The De-
partment Of Justice is not in . position
to decide whether or not cooperative
health associations are q proper solu-
| tion. It's function Is rather to prevent
| artificial impediments by organized
groups who desire TO escape compeu-
ton from the various attempts which
may be made from time to time To
bring down the cost Of medical care
The Sherman Act Ia not q method OF
directing or planning the future:
instead, it is = means OF keeping q
competitive situation open so that
those who can offer services at less
cost are not impeded by agreements,
boycotts, blacklists, expulsions from
societies or organized activities Of any
| character. The economic conditions
are surveyed not with an idea Of plan
ming a solution but with the idea OF
keeping the situation free from re-
| Straint.
Group Health Association is a con-
sumers cooperative organizs ton
whose members pay monthly dues
With the funds collected the asso-
ciation retains q stan Of physicians