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Show , i s yf a- - ft i-'. - hl&t lL f HW'Vniil mill linn I liiiiliinmii .n awlwlMMWMiwMtMiMaM MEDICAL BATTLIXINE In a Symposium delivered by Dr. Ernest L. Wilkinson, Jr., son of BYU President, Dr. Kenneth Castleton, panel moderator and Mrs. Maurine Neuberger, Senator for Oregon, the question of Medicare was castigated. Medicare Analyzed "I am completely opposed to socialized medicine," stated Maurine Neuberger, Senator from Oregon, in her speech delivered Thursday at noon. SHE DISCUSSED "Medicare: A Social Necessity?" The Senator defined socialized medicine as "the government owning health facilities and employing practitioners." SHE POINTED out the value of Medicare by contrasting its policy with those of the American Medical Association (AMA) and insurance companies. "Medicare is not a form of socialized medicine, she said. "IT OFFERS the most practical method by which people can meet the cost of health care in old age." I The AMA, the speaker main-tained, main-tained, advocated socialized medicine by supporting the Kerr-Mills Kerr-Mills Plan. SENATOR NEUBERGER discussed dis-cussed several faults she found in this plan. Kerr-Mills would exist only in large industrial states that could afford it. "AS LONG as you stay in a state that . doesn't participate, you don't benefit," the speaker said. The Senator noted that members mem-bers of the AMA "don't as a whole support some of the rash statements of the association. SHE FURTHERED her attack by mentioning that the AMA has been against health programs oi the past such as federal health grants, voluntary health plans, social security, health insurance and crippled children's program. "Private insurance has tried to see if it can provide some type of program for the aged," said the speaker. She maintained the fault here is that "insurance programs usually provide spe- (Continued on page 5) Neuberger . . . (Continued from page 1) cific amounts rather than specific spe-cific benefits." SHE ALSO complained that insurance can lapse, rates keep going up, and it benefits, on the average, the 74-year-old. To clear up a common misconception, mis-conception, Senator Neuberger stated, "Nothing is to prevent you in the choice of your doctor or hospitals" in the Medicare policy. SHE CITED successful instances in-stances where the government has aided medicine. Among these were the Hill-Burton Hill-Burton Fund, aiding medical schools and centers, and passing nurse's training bills. "All of these things to contribute to advancing ad-vancing the health of our people," peo-ple," she concluded. |