Evening star., 1944-02-27
Health Debate Grows Warm

standing may join any of the
county panels: participation is
purely voluntary. A doctor may
withdraw from panel upon giving
three months notice. The doctors
in insurance practice are paid ac-
cording to the number OF clients on
their lists-by the so-called capita
ton system. Under this system
individual doctors are limited to
$500 patients.
British doctors. explaining their
violent hostility to all proposals for
compulsory insurance prior to 1910
has melted into friendly acceptance
OF the existing program, cite the
following:
Increased income has resulted
for the physicians, especially for
doctors practicing among the
low-income groups;
The doctors income has been
stabilized and regularied, in bad
times as well as good ones:
Physicians have been freed OF
the burden of bill collecting;
The doctor patient relations
ship has been improved-par-
ticularly among cases formerly
in the charity range;
Doctors receive pay for keeping
patients in good health, instead
OF curing them, and
The standards of the medical
profession have been raised by
the elimination of the lowest
element of the profession, be-
cause good doctors can now be
attracted to poorer districts.
II it is granted that the British
system was necessary and has been
an overwhelming success, the ques-
ton arises as to the real need for
such Government sponsored
health insurance plan in the United
States.
Statistics Tell Story.
The statistics tell the story. They
disclose that medical services are
unevenly distributed in the Nation
with reference both to geographic
regions and to income classes.
The average number of persons
per physician ranges from 996 in
the best-supplied State to 2,67l in
the State least well supplied with
doctors. The safe minimum stand
ard of $500 persons per doctor es-
tablished by the Office of Defense
Health and Welfare Services was
exceeded in II States in 194l-be-
fore the heavy drain on doctors was
made by the armed services-and In
% States in 1913.
The Social Security Board re-
ported that in 1912 infant mortality
was three times as high in the
poorest State as it was in the best
State, and that the death rate from
tuberculosis ranged in the same
year from 1872 to 79.1 per 100 900 OF
population, excluding the States to
which tubercular patients are at
tached in the hope of cure.
The board further disclosed that
the general death rate among boys
and men of working age In the un-
skilled laboring classes was nearly
twice as high as it was for white
collar workers. Wage earners with
annual incomes of less than $1,000
averaged nearly twice as many days
of disability during the year as
those reported for persons in fami-
lies with incomes of 5000 or more
Low-income families. it was found
usually need most medical care, re-
ceive least, and spend 4 larger per-
centage of their annual income fol
medical care than do families in the
higher income groups.
Said DR.. Thomas Parran, United
States Surgeon General: "As just
one member of the health profess
sions would hope that our pro-
LESSONS would take the lead in
formulating constructive proposals
for national action. Unfortunately
1 have seen no concerted move
ments as yet in this direction.
If any Of the pending proposals
are unsound, the professions con-
cerned should formulate better ones
80 Specifically, would hope that
each of the health professions would
undertake studies and develop plans
which would represent their best
group judgment"
'' issis i:ii;fi t.ssnasses:e., slfnaaesas:se. win Va