Evening star., 1939-01-31
Wagner Outlines
Plans for National
Health Program
U. S. Would Aid
Stutes to Cut Toll
Through Illness

National Health Bill" last night ir
the National Radio Forum, arranged
by The Star and broadcast over
Nationwide network of the Nationa
Broadcasting Co. The text OF hi
address follows:
Tonight, in hundreds of ball!
throughout the land, the American
people are celebrating the 57tf
birthday anniversary Of Presiden'
Roosevelt. The occasion represent!
much more than a birthday tribut.
to the beloved leader OF q grea'
democracy. Underlying the pomr
and the merrymaking is a pro-
foundly serious purpose. New case!
of infantile paralysis arise each veal
in 1000 American households, leav'
ing in their wake ruined hopes
twisted bodies and twisted lives
Since 1884 the Presidents birthday
anniversary has been devoted to
fostering Nation wide movement
to control and stamp out this
scourge of mankind.
That movement is an index Of the
growing sentiment for the better CO.
ordination of effort-lay and pro-
fessional, local and national, public
and private - in promoting the
health security of the entire popu-
lation.
Sickness Toll Staggering.
Year in and year out, in good times
and in bad, sickness takes a stag
gering toll. On the average day,
5000, 900 persons are disabled by ILL
ness. Sickness causes total wage
loss of more than a billion dollars a
year. It is responsible for over a
third of all dependency on public
relief or private charity.
The United States already has
made tremendous strides in the
advancement of national health
and standards of medical care. But
while we boast of the worlds finest
resources of medical knowledge
equipment and personnel, we are
still sadly deficient in bringing those
resources within the reach OF all
who need them.
Over two-thirds of the counties in
the United States have no full-time
professional public health officer
While many hospital beds stand
vacant in the private hospitals OF
large cities, there is an overall de-
f1ciency of 100000 hospital beds,
especially In smaller cities and rural
counties. While many practitioners
wait In vain for patients, over a
quarter OF million mothers do not
have the care of a physician at
childbirth. In some areas, infant
mortality is as high today as it was
20 years ago; the general death rate
among the poor Of our large cities
is the same as the national death
rate Of so years ago. Although low
income families spend higher
proportion of their incomes for
medical care, they receive far less
medical service than families more
favorably situated.
This deficiency in distributing the
benefits of medical science is all the
more shocking because so much OF
it could be removed by the applica-
ton of techniques and personnel
already available At least one out
of every two mothers who die IN
childbirth, for example, could be
saved if properly cared for.
Price Is Core of Problem.
Environment, education, geograph-
ical distribution Of population and Of
medical facilities, all play their part.
But the core of the problem Is the
inability of those in need of medical
care to purchase it at price within
their means to pay. About 80 per
cent of the cost of all medical bills
is paid for out of the pockets of the
patients themselves. The 10000, 900
persons in the lowest third Of our
population, who need medical care
most, are least able to pay for it, and
consequently receive 1t least Of all.
An even greater proportion of the
population, higher in the economic
scale, could budget against the aver
age cost of medical care, but cannot
meet the unpredictable and calami-
tous costs of serious illness In indi-
vidual instances.
To the medical profession Is due
unstinted praise for their superb
altruism and spirit of service, often
at great personal sacrifice. In all
fairness, however, we cannot con-
tinue to saddle upon the profession
burden that should be borne by
society at large.
The day has long since passed
when Governments responsibility
for the health of the population
ceased with sanitation, quarantine,
and asylums for the insane. The
expanding health activities of Fed
eral, State and local authority reflect
the increasing emphasis of medical
science upon preventive measures, as
we'll as the awakened social con-
sciousness Of our people as whole
Today, medical care is tax-supported
to the tune of $500, ,OO0, 900 year. This
is one-sixth of the national health
bill paid from all sources. Even as a
cold business proposition, bearing in
mind the extent of preventable
losses and the public drain Of depen-
dency, little additional outlay would
be needed in the long run to make
available to all groups of the popu-
lation minimum of adequate med
ical care. We will be repaid many
times over In renewed national vigor
and human contentment.
National Program Needed.
What we require above all is to
give impetus and direction to the
sum total of our present expendi-
lures and efforts-public and private
by framing a long-range national
health program. Such a carefully
considered program has now been
put forward by a committee repre-
senting the departments of the Fed
eral Government directly concerned
In health problems and health needs.
Their recommendations have Just
been transmitted for the considera-
tion Of Congress in a special message
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