Madison County Democrat. (London, Ohio) 19??-1958, 1954-11-26
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problem is how we can devise
ways to spread the cost equitably
so that no single family bears too
heavy a burden at one time.
Many people are fairly conf
dent of their ability to meet ordi-
nary doctor bills, the kind you
run up during a winter of family
sniffleS and a few cases of meas
les. What worries us most is the
alwayS-threatening specter of med
ical catastrophe and the heavy
costs that go with it. Suppose
someone has a serious accident,
needs a delicate operation, or is
hoSpitalized for m onths with
something like a heart attack ?
Even worse, suppose it happens
to the family breadwinner
What This Means to You ...
How seriously such an emer-
gency will affect you depends, of
course, on your income. What
would mean a disaster to one
family only means the sacrifice of
a new car or a summer vacation
to another. Although there is
general feeling among US. fami-
lies that doctors, and hospitals,
too, charge only what is fair,
there is no way to control or dis
tribute the recurrence of medical
catastrophe. Some hard luck"
families are struck down by a
series of medical emergencies.
Others who have had little or no
need for medical expenses cheer
fully report no need for health in
Surance, ignoring the possibility
that they may be next.
By contrast, 500 of all families
in the u. S. last year had medical
expenses amounting to 40 of
their income or less, some nine
per cent of all families surveyed
reported no medical expenditures
of any kind, exclusive of insur-
ance premiums. This does not ne
cessarily mean they were all in
the pink of health-many, in low
er income groups, were undoubted-
ly putting off needed dental care
and other maintenance treat
mentS."
An unlucky 100000 US. fami-
lies, on the other hand, ran up
medical bills using up a major
proportion of everything they
earned. There is no doubt that
despite the efforts of individual
physicians to adjust their fees to
ability to pay" the burdens of
medical care weigh most heavily
on the lower and moderate in
come families.
Percent of Family Income Spent
Families earning less than
$1,000 in cash income spent 6.1@6
of their income for doctors, medi-
cine and hospitals. Among those
who said their income was in the
$1,000 to $500 bracket, medical
expenses amounted to 496 of their
income. Those who earn from
$500 to $4,000 reported their
medical costs were 3.9% of their
yearly income. The $1,000 to ST.
500 income group paid out only
36go for health costs and those
who earn $500 to $4,000 spend
only 1920 of it to get well and
stay well.
Another set of figures revealed
by the survey seems to show that
while most people in all income
brackets are willing to run up
doctor bills, enter the hospital and
submit to surgery when needed,
these same families regard dental
care, especially preventive dem
tistry, as a luxury. At any rate,
researchers found that no ex-
penditures for personal health are
so closely hitched to income as
dental service. Only 1ao of fam
lilies earning from $1,000 to $3,-
500 spent $195 or more on yearly
dental work for the entire family
In this same group $50 spent
nothing at all. At the other end
of the scale, looking at families
earning upwards of $780, the
survey revealed that 1870 had
spent $195 or more at the dent
ists-and only 1920 spent nothing.