Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-03-13
Maryland
County Gets
Short End of
Health Fund
BY Gene Goodwin
Saar Stuff csrraspanaani

in the past, distributed It's re-
port to busy legislators this
past week.
Very few of them probably
will find time in this hectic
last month Of the 1855 ses-
sion to read the report, let
alone draft the legislation to
implement it,. But it is a
most revealing and important
document. particularly for
Prince Georges legislators.
The subcommittee found,
for example, that in fiscal
1853, Prince Georges County
received less State aid per
capita for its Health Depart
ment than any county in
Maryland.
Prince Georges in that year.
the latest for which the sub
committee could collect data,
received IL cents per capita
in State health aid and 7
cents per capita in Federal
monies distributed by the
State Health Department.
Only - Cents
This combination of 10 cents
per capita in Federal-State aid
compares with 40 cents In
Montgomery. STA in Charles.
SO cents in Anne Arundel, 90
cents in Howard and $2.74 per
capita in Calvert County. The
average for all counties was So
cents.
Prince Georges is bordered
by counties which received
from two to 10 times as much
Federal-State aid in proper
ton to population, the report
noted.
The story behind this ir-
regular distribution is interest,"
ing. to say the least.
It seems that when the
State Health Department
started organizing county
health departments in 1922, it
used State financial aid as bait.
State aid formulas were nego-
tiated separately with each Of
Maryland's % counties until
by 1884 all had established
health departments.
Counties such as Calvert
drove a hard bargain with the
State. Prince Georges ap-
parently got took"
,"At the time 1t was the best
available method of insuring
that each county would have at
least a minimum county health
organization" the case report
says Of this unusual method Of
distributing State funds, but
ut resulted in the creation of
inequities in State grants-in-
aid"
Inequities Persist
The inequities have con-
tinued to this day, in part
perhaps because the State aid
setup has never been looked
into before this.
But the chief reason is that
in Maryland public health af-
fairs. the right and left hands
are only barely acquainted.
The subcommittee found, for
instance, that the State Health
Department. the various Offices
Of county commissioners and
the county health departments
were each able to furnish an
adequate record of its own ex-
penditures," but none knew
what the others had spent. -"
The subcommittee recon-
mends a complete overhauling
of the distribution system,
basing State aid as nearly as
possible on the wealth of the
individual counties. It sug-
gests what seems to be a
sound formula for determining
this wealth.
The report also proposes a
minimum health program for
the counties, which would
about triple the money Prince
Georges would have to spend.
Local money appropriations
have not treated the Prince
Georges Health Department
much better than the State,
it would seem. Its fiscal 1853
health budget Of about $133,-
900 (s91,OO0 county. $4,000
State) falls considerably short
of the minimum budget OF
$453,000 ($272,0 900 State, $751;
900 county, recommended by
the subcommittee. /
Montgomery Unchanged
Montgomery's health budget,
on the other hand, would
change little under the Case
plan. Montgomery appropri-
ated about $389,000 ($3l6,O00
county, $4,000 State) in fiscal
1853 and the recommended
minimum program would have
1t budgeting q $685.. 900 ($3l6,-
900 county, $4,000 State).
The subcommittee proposed
a flve-year transition period
to allow the counties to bring
themselves up to the minimum
program. In the transition,
Prince Georges would have to
increase its county health ap-
preparation about $4,000 a
year for which it would receive
about $4,000 in additional
State aid each year. Mont
gomery would not have to in
crease its local appropriation
to remain in the program, but
would receive only about 81, 200
q year additional State aid.
The cost Of putting the mini
mum program into effect
would be about 81 million
above the So million the State
onl ontty,fiac nnu, GRAND nra