The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-06-05
Blue Cross Planning Adjustments Of Rates Rise h Hospital Costs Given as RsAsOn For Necessary Revision; President
 Kennedy Issues Explanatory Statement

8434EnU& 0f WM2HE1EannR van NR S9o2oa kAczelg eg reaaumRna oe taae8 ecr &he NNm1Hal memAeEahlp oa &AR CaEmnca1cua Haae OEms& ne EEa2aal nna uam11nuea ne m tAa cas e nxlnRs has made a nec- WE@Ew 9nr &he mEanm1na4anm en amke araaun. t hns hsrn annnnnrea hg Hazxg D. Kennedy. pEez1ens of the csmnec4acus Hosplaal Sezwtce. Inc.
 Atlxsbutang EAe aaenzament to a r1ze ln hozFllnl costk Kennedy re- VenlH6 that the ancEeaNe. the Ara the Raan has maae without snrgeAs- tns bHne8fS wsn amozn9 o ap- praximate1g i've cents a wee& gor im1ax8ann12g enrone6 maembers. 10 cen1s Gor hnsAana and w1Fe and le cenzs for samlhss. TheEe ere s4D.- 0Be mnHmherS In the CnnnecEtcns UniE.
 Pr empaoyes whose firms deduct Blue Crn@ memberxlip fees mnnah- lv. the new rates win amnmna to slao for fntixtauals, ea1o eur hns- hama and wife and S2se eor sanhi- lie8 Rates 1cr snhncEzbeES nov on elEsc4 payment w0ul1 be. as always. sllxh1lv hlkher.
 RnAsmGase ssusv nanae
 kenneev stated B1ne Gross. along w1Eh hnzpafals and tlae Stnle Ensur- amoe Department had been working on the pronaem since early las4 fan.
 -A cnmmlt1ee ef huEp1tnl trustees. am @mElness and professional men. mrnae the gnrmal stnag." Kennedy said. rana they unanimDuklv recOn- mEn61a tfnt Bame CSoss keep its pEesHnt cnnanact with few changes. and with nn eye to sEabiiizing the rane structure in the fntmre. the maue Cross 6irerbors mnAe . study Of costs and produced the new rate scneaule."
 The program as 1t nov stands has seen approved by the State Tnsur- anue Commissioner and needs only the formal acknowledgement by member hnzpitalS. which is expect cd by approximately Jnne IS. Ken- nedv said.
 Kennedy pointed Out thai Con- necEicut Blue Cross EAS not alone as far as increased hospital costs were concerned Most Blne Gross Plans throughout the country have increased their rates or are in the process Of doing so. he stated.
 There just isn't any other solu- ti0n," he said. Tn the last l2 months we have paid out ese8S.- 322z2. CT 96 per cent of OIT income. to hospitals for the care and ser- vice Of our members. HoEever. there are other factores talnt we must con- sider. For instance approximately one-4hird of our members have joined within the last year and we know from experience that they Mdll require considerably more hos- pitn. care an their second and f0l- losing years. Ia addition. operating costs must be considered. although this expense for our organization is les than 90 per cent. Incident aisg. with tzO ezeeptSOnS. our Plan has the lowest operating cost of the es Blne Gross Plans in exist enee.
 Aaaunsae RssaEvas nzaEnsntne6,
 Finally we nans& maintain ade- Qnate reserves in the event Of epic danaaGs cr similar catasiEDphes. Of late we hnge had to draw on our reserves, but ue can't dip into them continually. especially when you consider that we have paid out mere than twelve million dollars fer the hospital care of our nlem- beTs since the Plan gas strated.
 Under the new program members Hzi1 get the same number Of days Of hospital care each calendar yea. a. Wdtb an additional % days nt psEt6al coverage. Blue Gross HaeBl- beEz E5ll stflI be provided Eitt special services, the most Enpredict- able and in many instance. the