The people's voice., 1950-05-12

ton that the people need and want
This new line is particularly ap-
parent in articles on health insur-
ance carried recently both in "For-
tune" and in "Time." These ar
ticles, while critical of certain fea-
lures of the Truman health insur-
ance program, concede that some pro-
gram must be offered which will en-
able the mass of people to receive
adequate medical care at reason
able cost.
Debates Big 1850 Issue
The articles take the ground
right out from under Taft and
his cohorts who counted on MAX
ing "socialized medicine" one of
the big issues of the 1850 election
campaign.
Most effective of the two articles
is the one carried by Fortune" !"
the $1.25 copy magazine of the
business elite. 1t is entitled Health
Insurance Is Next" written by Rus
sell Davenport, close associate of
(Dem., Wis.,, leader in the House
in the battle for health insurance,
was so impressed with it that he
inserted the piece in the Congress
ional Record" so reactionaries in the
House and Senate would not miss
it.
Biemiller let it be known he could
not agree with many of Davenport's
conclusions, "but his facts about the
urgent need of some kind of national
program are impressive"
"There is nothing radical about
the author" the Wisconsin congress
man stressed. "His most prominent
political activity was managing Wen
dell Wilkes presidential campaign
in 1910. He is Republican.
$50 is Henry Luce, whose wife,
Clare Boothe Luce, served as a Re-
publican with considerable promin-
ence in the House of Representa-
tives.
"This article marks a great for
word step in our understanding of
the state of the nations health. We
now have groups in both political
parties who realize that this serious
problem is beyond political boun-
daries. They differ as to method, but
there is no real difference of opin-
ion that something must be done by
government action"
Fortune" Enters Fray
''Fortune" declares flatly that
the present medical setup doesn't
meet the peoples neds.
Some portion of the people, those
who can afford it, get the best pos
sible medical care, says Fortune"
"But another portion get this kind
of care only when they are lucky,
or if they make a tremendous fl
nancial sacrifice, while still a third
portion do not get it at ALL" the maga-
zine declares.
''And the disconcerting fact" it |
adds, "seems to be that the second |
and third groups, added together,
constitute more than half of the
"The American Medical Asscoia-
ion itself observed in 1889 that famil-
les with incomes under $4,000 a year
could not afford to pay the costs
of a major or chronic illness.
eff this figure were adjusted for
the rise in the cost of living, it would |
today be close to $4,000 a year and
would apply to 80 per cent of the
In other words, 80 per cent of
the American people are unable to
meet the expense of serious or
continuing sickness.
Very frankly, Fortune" predicts
that those who advocate a national
system of. insurance Twill certainly
win the backing of the people in the
ong run"
"For the threat of medical costs
ooms over the average American
family in truly sinister way" the
says.
"The threat does not lie in the av-
erage cost but in the facts that a
serious illness may drive the cost
~. yorti o,11o,. fay,i1xr III, into tho