Evening star., 1961-01-12
Prelude to the Battle

Time will tell whether the White
House Conference on Aging has con-
tributed anything of value to the forth
coming congressional battle over higher
social security taxes to finance an ex-
panded program Of medical care for the
aged. Certainly there is little basis for
a judgment, despite all the furor, in the
policy statements" voted upon by
smattering of the conference delegates.
The voting, limited though 1t was,
did accomplish one thing. It refuted
the emotional charges that doctors and
insurance companies had captured"
control of the conference, for the sub
group of delegates charged with voting
on the social security question supported
this approach by substantial margin.
On the other hand, although its Ian
guage will not appear in the formal
record, second voting group Tin which
large number Of doctors was concen-
trated) attacked the social security pro-
posals in separate statement as an
unnecessary and undesirable" move.
If psychological victory was won
apart from the voting, however, 1t
assuredly went to the proponents Of the
social security approach, the chief
among whom is President-elect Ken
nedy. To the public eye, at least, the
social security issue dominated the con-
ference to the exclusion Of virtually
everything else, and this in itself served
to dramatic the controversy and to
accentuate the earneStneSS of the prob
lem. Nor was any political opportunity
missed. It was scarcely accidental, for
example, that Mr.. Kennedy's task
force" on the aged, which urged pro-
gram Of social-security financing even
broader than the President-elect has
proposed, made public its report on the
very day before the conference voting
began. Advocates Of this approach,
Furthermore, were elated to receive an
unexpected bonus of support from two
prominent former officials Of the Eisen-
hover Observation-Disclosures B. Fol-
som and Arthur Larsen.
All this, of course, is no more than
a prelude to the main bout, which will
start the day Mr.. Kennedy sends his
new proposal to Capitol Hill. Enactment
of an administration bill is by no means
assured, and there are more valid
reasons for opposition than the TRADE
against "Socialized medicine" which so
largely characterized the American
Medical Association position at the con-
ference. Chief among them is the rapid
growth already taking place in the
social security tax rate (from an
employer-employe total Of per cent on
maximum earnings of $4,000 in 1850 to
a total of per cent on earnings Of
$4,000 today. BY 1869, the total is con-
Servatively expected to reach 8 per cent.
If an adequate alternative can be found
to handle the medical care problem,
therefore-especially one which would
retain some measure Of local control in
the States-we would much prefer to
leave the social security schedule alone.
Whether such an alternative can be
found, however, remains to be seen.
It hardly seems possible, in view Of
the Supercharged emotions now sur
rounding the subject, that medical-care-
for-the-aged proposals came to the fore
only last spring-largely as pre-cam-
paign issue. Whatever the motives, how
ever, the need is real and serious one,
which hardly is met by the Kerr-Mills
bill that was rushed through the rump
session of Congress in August. And
having now been raised, the issue is
not likely to be dropped, nor should it
be, until satisfactory solution is found.
Mr Hnnerfv's New Joh