St. Paul recorder. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1934-2000, 1962-01-12


of medical care do not get it be-
cause they are too proud to accept
charity. Those whose care is paid
for by assistance agencies, public
or private, receive such care after
the humiliating experience of prov
ing they are in want-the demean-
ing, MISUNDERSTANDING means test.
Many of the expenses that are paid
by relatives and friends are paid
at great cost to the well-being of
the children and grandchildren Of
the elderly i'll. Families go without
things they need and go into debt
to pay hospital and other health
care costs for elderly relatives. We
must prevent dependency, not just
deal with it after it has arisen, and
then only at the price of humilia-
ton and deprivation for other fam
lily members, and on a catch-as-
catch-can basis.
have as patients working men
and women, the retired and aged,
who need medical care and who
confess their fears, their emotional
traumas of being ill and disabled
and the object of charity. Many
wish that they would be dead in
stead, and some of these are in the
mounting numbers Of suicides. The
worth Of any society can best be
determined by its attitudes toward
the weak, aged, and helpless. Meas
ured by these criteria, ours is not
a shining example Of the good soci-
ETY.. The Russian Nobelist, Boris
Pasternak, in his 'Dr. Zhivago,"
has his gentle and courageous doc
tor of medicine say Man does not
die like a dog in the ditch, he dies
with dignity and in bed" In the
twilight of his life, we should also
help him to maintain his dignity,
not demean it.
am opposed to the Kerr-Mills
Law because 1t Is utterly made
quate. I dislike 1t even more be-
cause Of the provision which re-
quires beneficiaries to submit to
the demeaning loss OF dignity in
volved in q means test, less subtly
referred to as a pauper's oath.
I am In favor OF the King Ander-
son Bill because 1t Is progressive
social legislation, whose beneficiar-
les, as such, would continue in a
state of dignity, like any other
purchaser of medical care or groc-
cries. It would not introduce any
change in the purely medical prac-
tice of medicine, and as far as the
doctor Of medicine, the physician,
Is concerned, it leaves him by his
own choice, as officially alleged
by the ANA, in his status quo
ante.
The proposed program is hos
pital-oriented because it is the fac
ility that provides the best of
modern diagnostic and medical
treatment throughout the country.
In paying hospitals, it would fol-
low practices lin large part based
upon recommendations of the
American Hospital Associaton)
already we'll established and &C
copied by the hospitals in their
dealings with Blue Cross, the
states and other Federal programs.
In brief, payment would cover the
cost of all services, drugs and sup
plies which hospitals customarly
furnish for the care of patients ex-
cept the services Of personal ply
sicians and private duty nurses,
and luxury items furnished at the
request Of the patient. "a similar
approach would be used for reim-
bursement Of nursing homes.)
The forms and the procedures to
be used in the payment process
would be much like those used by
most Blue Cross organizations.
Thus, the hospitals would not be
burdened with processes foreign to
their present practices. Dealings
with hospitals and other providers