The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1946-07-05
LEADER BACKS PLAN
OF HEALTH BILL

ment of the Wagner Murray -Dingell
Bill for ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
health and medical program, advo-
Gated by the American Federation Of
Labor, was presented before the Sem
ate Education and Labor Committee
by Harry j. Becker, president of
Group Health Association.
First spokesman for voluntary
prepayment health plan to testify
before the committee on behalf of
this measure, Mr.. Becker frankly ad-
mitted that voluntary plans, though
they serve an important purpose, are
necessarily limited in scope and cam
not meet the Nations needs.
At the same time the speaker, con-
sultant in medical care administra-
tion for the Children's Bureau of the
Labor Department, sharply attacked
the Taft-Ball- Smith Bill, which, he
declared, falls far short of what is
required to safeguard national health.
"The issue at stake" he said, sis
whether the principles established in
the Social Security Act over a decade
ago shall be or shall not be utilized in
the extension of medical services.
"The Taft Bill does not propose to
utilize the Social Security Act to ex-
tend medical services to our people.
1t is primarily an extension of the
outmoded poor law concepts. Sena-
tor Taft and his associates, in pro-
posing this plan, have asked for the
adoption of a Government program
that does not assure provision of a
well-rounded medical service to any
portion of the population; that does
not remove economic barriers to care;
that essentially makes no provision
for safeguarding standards of care;
that authorizes delegation of public
responsibility to agencies not respon-
sible to the people, and that contains
many fundamentally unsound admin
istrative provisions. This measure can
hardly be called "a national health
act'."
Discussing the need for strong
Government program, Mr.. Becker con-
tinued:
''There is today almost unanimous
agreement that the Nation needs a
program that will assure comprehen-
sive medical care of high quality to
all individuals with medical need, with
out regard to economic status, color,
place of residence or occupation. Even
those who oppose the Taft bill will not
challenge the statement that the peo-
pie of this country desire that the in
strument of their Government con-
tinue to be used to extend and streng-
then medical care services for all peo-
ple."
Commenting on the limited scope
of the voluntary prepayment medi-
cal plans, he said
"In recognition of our own inher-
ent weaknesses, we support the Wag-
ner- Murray -Dingell Bill because we
believe that medical care must be as
sured to all the people as a right rath-
er than privilege for few.
Attainment Of this end depends
on removing economic barriers to nee
essary melical care that exist for the
overwhelming majority of people.
This can be done only through the
universal application, under Govern
ment auspices, of the successfully
demonstrated principle of periodic
payment. When members of voluntary
plans now prepay their medical care,
they agree to a voluntary tax on their
incomes. A universal application of
the principle of pre-paying the costs of
medical care is possible only through
the exercise of the Governments pow
er to tax, whether it is through the
form of payroll deductions, through
! Government taxes, or both.
"In a democracy there can be only
one answer, and that is the peoples
answer. The people of this country
not just those who lack the ability to
pay far care, not just those who are
white or colored, not just those who
are veterans, not just those in any
special category-but all the people
want the removal Of barriers to the
highest quality Of care that medical
science and research offer"
Xo.. ann cse,..,.nd Deo,,ank Cnnxrs "a