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Show Medic Ass'n Plans Better Care for Aged The House of Delegates of the Utah State Medical Association, Associ-ation, at a special meeting Wednesday, set April 1962, as the target date for working out a new and up-to-date program pro-gram for medical care for the indigent, through the Utah State Welfare Commission, according ac-cording to Harold Bowman, executive ex-ecutive secretary of the USMA. "Utah's doctors are performing perform-ing medical services for the welfare department on the basis of a temporary agreement agree-ment set up in July 1957. The program was supposed to function fun-ction for six months until a more suitable plan was worked out. That was four and a half years ago, but we are still operating on the old program which has become more and more difficult for the physicians," physi-cians," says Mr. Bowman. "Under the long-antiquated arrangement, physicians have accepted fifty per cent of the regular fee for welfare medical med-ical work. But it costs most doctors at least fifty per cent of the regular fee to handle patients in an office. In addition, ad-dition, it costs more to handle a welfare patient than it does a regular patient because of the reports and paper work necessary to receive compensation," compen-sation," points out Mr. Bowman. "Most doctors actually lose money handling such cases. This is the reason that doctors, almost unanimously, favor performing per-forming the indigent medical work for nothing, at established estab-lished clinics, rather than getting get-ting the inadequate fee in their office." "Over the years, funds for welfare aid have increased, but more and more have been spent for hospitalization and drugs, while a smaller proportionate pro-portionate share has been given to the doctors for basic medical care. In this way the responsibility responsi-bility of the state, through the welfare department, has been -- shifted from the state more and more on to the shoulders of Utah's men of medicine who have always guaranteed that all persons in the state will e assured of medical help Aether they can pay for it or r,ov dOuy LbeCme 3 trem?"" doctors or,L,rden fr the from twelve dnate wvtttoanper cent of their working time to charity. But the burden is getting get-ting heavier. Legislation has been enacted whereby indigent segments of the population do not have to ask for double charity - the state and the doctor. Federal funds are available avail-able when matching funds are provided by a state legislature. But even with matching federal fed-eral funds, the money appropriated approp-riated by the Utah Legislature has fallen far short of the needs of the state, despite the tremendous contributions in service of the doctors. We feel that the people in need are entitled to the same attention as other persons, and we respectfully re-spectfully request that the problem pro-blem be studied by the legislators, legis-lators, the legislative council, the welfare department, and the various counties to put the responsibility where it lies," says Mr. Bowman. "Until then the Utah doctors will continue to provide medical med-ical care as they have done in the past and will help to establish est-ablish and staff, free clinics, but in the meantime the problem pro-blem must be brought out for a solution by state and county leaders before April 1," reports re-ports Mr. Bowman. |