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Show MEDICARE SERVICE NOW JWA1LABLE Wives and children of uniformed uniform-ed servicemen living in Utah may now use civilian hospitals and physicians at government expense. The program in Utah was made possible by the cooperation of the Utah State Medical Assn. and the Utah State Hospital Assn. The Dependents Medical Care Pian, Public Law 509, will be administered in Utah and a ma-Monty ma-Monty of states by Blue Cross and I Blue Shield, Lewis G. Hersey, executive director of the Utah Plans, announced. In the past, the federal government govern-ment has pruvided medical care !for dependents in military facilities facili-ties when available. The "Medicare" "Medi-care" program passed by the 84th ; Congress provides civilian hos-;pitai hos-;pitai and medical benefits to wives and children of servicemen service-men on active duty with the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard. Commissioned Corps of the Public Health Service Ser-vice and the Coast and Geodetic Survey. I Mr. Hersey said the new law provides up to 3(J5 days of hospital hos-pital care in semi-primate accommodations ac-commodations and full hospital services when hospitalization is j required for acute medical conditions, con-ditions, surgery, contagious diseases, dis-eases, emergency treatment, maternity ma-ternity and infant care. To receive this care, dependents depend-ents will pay a total of $25, or $1.75 per hospital day, which ever ev-er is the larger amount, to the civilian hospital. The government govern-ment will pay the balance of the bill. The government will also pay the attending physician in accordance accor-dance with local fee schedules for treatment of the conditions previously named. A limited indemnity in-demnity will be paid for diagnostic diag-nostic laboratory, pathology and radiology outside the hospital. Blue Cross-Blue Shield will pay the hospital and attending physician directly for the care rendered dependents. The .Plan will in turn be reimbursed by the government for payments made plus an allowance for actual ac-tual costs of administration. The dependents will not receive re-ceive Blue Cross-Blue Shield identification cards, Mr. Hersey said, but will shortly have identification iden-tification forms supplied by the Department of Defense. The Department De-partment of Defense and the Department De-partment of Health, Education and Welfare are the government agencies in charge of the program. pro-gram. The Medicare program was introduced in-troduced during the last session of Congress in order to save the cost of expanding military hospitals hos-pitals to care for these dependents depend-ents and to prevent a shortage of military doctors that might develop when the doctor draft ends in July, 1957. The program may also make military service more inviting to young men by assuring them that their wives and children will have proper medical care if required. |