The Omaha guide., 1946-07-06

She gets along as best she can.
John, aged y, is full Of energy and in good health thank
goodness. They do not have many worries about him, except try
ing to get enough meat and milk and bread to keep up, with his
appetite. Little Mary, aged 4, has not been SO strong; they have
made it a point to take her to the doctor regularly even though
this has cost quite a bit. They have read the bulletins of the U. S.
Chldren's Bureau about the importance of regular examinations
vitamins, and SO forth. One of these days they are going to have to
have her tonsils out lat quite a cost, but if that is the worst, they
will be able to meet it.
There are many families much worse off than Joe Workers.
They have been overwhelmed by long-drawn-out illness which has
cut off the fathers income at the same time that huge bills have
piled up. Their small savings have been spent tor doctors bills,
and yet they have not been able to get as good care as needed.
Many families live in smaller or poorer communities than Joe
Worker, where there are few or no doctors.
There are other families that have been especially lucky and
that have had no great problems of medical care. They enjoy good
borhood, with plenty of play space. Yet even they may be over
whelmed it disease strikes the wage Garner. Some are now carrying
hospital insurance or may be protected to some extent by a sick
benefit plan negotiated by a union. But only a few OF even this
lucky group, those with large savings, can be sure OF paying the
doctor in those unexpected but all to frequent cases when a long
drawn-out illness strikes.
During the war, more than a third of the registrants were
turned down by Selective Service because Of poor health. And
these reflections were all among young men. Even those who were
accepted often had some physical defects, like poor teeth or bad
vision, that the Army tried to correct.
Why should so many young Americans be in poor health?
by studying what happened in Hagerstown, Maryland, where they
had been keeping track Of the health Of growing children for
about twenty years. Most Of the HagerStown boys who were re-
jected for military service because Of medical defects had those
same defects when they were children. For example, three-quar-
tiers of the children who were rated as umderweight and under
nourished Is years earlier were rejected by Selectve Service. Hall
the children who were later disqualified because Of eye defects
had poor vision Is years earlier.
What's the use of examining children, and writing down on
record what's wrong with them? Of course, the Public Health
Service doctors hoped their parents would have those defects
taken care of. But how? If they didn't have the money, how could
they? Several studies have shown that people go into debt for
medical reasons more than for any other reason.
That's why insurance against medical costs is SO important
Illness often strikes individuals without warning, but for large
groups of people, it's easy to predict how much sickness there VII
be, say, in a year. Then if every one in a large group regularly
contributes a little to a common fund, each family unfortunate
enough to be stricken with illness will be able to get the right kind
of medical care when it is needed. The bigger YOU make the group
the less each individual has to pay because then you're spreading
the risk more. That's why the government should create one big
medical insurance system for everybody. The voluntary plans are
all right in a small way. They help-but they aren't enough.