Evening star., 1952-01-10

IL SnOulQ De at aDOuL
$2,150,000. ~.
In making the changes for 1852,
the officials said, they are seek
ing an income which will add
about 9 per cent of subscribers
payments to the reserve fund, and
still cover the increased costs of
hospital care.
Even with the maternity re-
|duction, they said, the board was
required to increase rates from
$1.30 to $1.70 per month for in
Idividual contracts, and from So
to $3.70 for family contracts.
Without the maternity-benef1t
change. they estimated that an
additional 50-cent-a-month in
c. ease would have to be placed
on the more than 10000 family
contracts.
Varied Maternity Plans.
A main factor in deciding that
the maternity benefit could justly
be cut, Mr.. Hines said. was that
many other Blue Cross plans al
ready gave cash allowances for
obstetrical care.
A check of Blue Cross statistics
showed that plans in the East
vary widely in such cases.
Those in Norfolk and Richmond,
for example, call for complete
protection against hospital charges
for a certain number of days.
Those in Delaware and New York
City give only an $8-a-day in
demnity payment. Those in Bal
timore, Philadelphia and Provi-
dence make a maximum cash
allowance of SIS.
In addition to the fear of max
ing rates too high for moderate
income families. Mr.. Hines said,
the board considered the increased
strain on business firms in Wash
ington which participate in the
plan. Some of these firms pay
the entire subscription rate for
their employees and others pay
part of the rates.
One study. officials said. showed
that maternity cases in 1850 &C
counted for 21a per cent of all
CHI payments made to hospitals,
while they represented only 18
per cent of the total number of
hospital claims.
Permits Expense Planning.
The CHI Board. officials said,
also considered that prospective
parents would have several months
in which to plan for their part
of the hospital expense, unlike
victims of a sudden illness.
In addition, they said. normal
maternity expenses-again unlike
those of some types of illness
can be estimated fairly closely in
advance and are not excessive.
The maternity cutback affects
only normal deliveries. Service
benefit" protection will continue
for Ceasarian deliveries, ectopic
pregnancies and miscarriages.
The CHI board, officials said,
rejected as impractical the pos
sibility that full maternity benefit
contracts be offered on an OPP
tional basis, at higher rates, to
those who wanted them. The
reason, they explained, is that
rates would have to be tremen-
dously high in order to afford the
large number of payments that
could be expected to result from
such a limited group.
Many authorities, officials point
ed out, believe that maternity
cases, in any instance, are not
sound insurance risks under pre-
payment plans, since it is possible
to plan to capitalize on the bene-
fits after a short participation in
the programs.
Mr.. Hines indicated that CHI
has no plan to replace other serv-
ice benefits with cash indemnities
as a means of working out possible
problems in the future. In addi-
tion, he said, the maternity change
may be "a temporary one"
But that, officials cautioned,
may depend largely upon what the
future brings in the way of in
creased costs of hospital care.