Evening star., 1954-01-18

Text Of Eisenhower's Message to Con-
sress on Health. Pose A.
the President offered Ito i'm
prove the health of the Ameri-
can people"
The President also:
/. Called for an extension of
the Governments vocational re-
Mobilization activities which he
said would return 100000 dis
abled TO the ranks of employ
ables in the next five years.
2. Recommended expanded
hospital facilities.
50 Billion Spent Annually.
The Presidents health pro-
gram was outlined in a 5000
word message in which he said
that the American people now
are spending more than So bill
lion annually for medical care.
In proposing to help out in
this situation. the President
said:
Two of the key problems in
the field of health today are the
distribution of medical facilities
and the cost of medical care"
In advocating this Govern
ment-aided health insurance
plan, the President stressed
that private enterprise must be
protected.
The. Truman administration
had proposed a health insurance
program financed by compulsory
payroll deductions and this had
been vigorously attacked by Re-
publicans as "socialized med
icine."
Details Are Lacking.
The American Medical Asso-
ciation and other medical groups
also had opposed the plan.
Gen. Eisenhower did not spell
out his new proposal IN detail,
explaining that more people need
health protection. The Presi-
dent said that private and nom
profit organizations have made
striking progress" in devising
such plans, which already meet
approximately 40 per cent of all
private expenditures for hospital
care.
"The Government need not
and should not go into the in
surance business to furnish the
protection which private and
non-profit organizations do not
now provide" he said.
'I recommend the establish
ment of a limited Federal re-
insurance plan to encourage
private and non-profit health
insurance health organizations
to offer broader health protec-
ton to more families. This
service would re-insure the spe-
cial additional risks involved in
such broader protection. 1t can
be launched with a capital fund
of $25 million provided by the
Government to be retired from
reinsurance fees"
Grants-in-Aid Urged.
The President went into nc
further details. In dealing with
the question of rehabilitating
the disabled. the President pro-
posed that the program be
financed as at present by Fed
eral grants-in-aid to the States
and he promised to go into more
detail on this in his budget
message later this week.
The hospital expansion pro-
gram which the President pro-
poses also would continue to be
a joint Federal -State-local propo-
sition.
He suggested four lines OF at
tack for this problem:
l. Added assistance in the con.
struction Of non-prof1t hospital.
for the care of the chronically Ill
2. Assistance in construction o1
non-profit medically supervised
nursing and convaleScent homes
3. Expansion Of non-profit
rehabilitation facilities for the
disabled.
4. Aid for establishment o1
non-prof1t diagnostic or treat.
ment centers for ambulatory pa.
tientS.
The President also proposed
that funds be made available tC
States to survey their needs anc
he emphasized I'VE should alst
continue to observe the principle
Of State and local determine.
ton of their needs without Fed.
eral interference"