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Show LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letter to the Editor: i To clear up confusion and set the record straight, I would like' to let the citizens of Utah know exactly where the 950 d(x-tors of this state stand on medical aid for the aged and the King Bill now before Congress. Here's what we favor: The doctors of America be! 'eve that our aged citizens who need medical care should get it whetn-er whetn-er or not they can afford to pay for it. We favor a program of medical' aid for the aged sensibly de-! signed to Help those who need help but which allows mil- lions who can affoi it to pay for their own medical care. Such a program was enacted by Congress last year, it's the! Kerr-Mills law which has the enthusiastic en-thusiastic support of America's doctors. Specifically the law provides pro-vides for Federal grants-in-aid to the individual state, enabling enab-ling them to provide health care for those among the elderly who need it. The benefits of this locally lo-cally administered program also included the 2's million Americans Ameri-cans eligible for Old Age Assistance Assist-ance and protect all other senior sen-ior citizens who cannot meet the costs of a serious or long-lasting A" illness. The Kell-Mills law represents i a common-sense approach to solving a problem that concerns i us all. As doctors, we support it 1 ! because our first consideration !' is the health and life of our pa- '! tients. As Americans, we endorse it because helping those who '! cannot help themselves is the ob- ! ligation of all decent people. ji Here's what we reject: 1 As Americans not simply a physicians we are deeply con- 1 1 cerned about the dangers of Fed- ! 1 eral Medicine. And we are not ! crying "wolf when we apply that term to the currently pro- j! posed legislation which would es- I ' tablish a COMPULSORY health- j! care program for everyone cover- i ed by Federal Social Security ji (regardless of need). We believe i that this creates a program, de- void of cost control, which soon ij becomes an all-inclusive mono- poly destroying the qualily an" incentive of American Medicine, now the best In the world. 1 This COMPULSORY health- ! care program adds up to noth- i ing more than Socialized Medi- i cine controlled by a bureau of ji the Federal Government paid j for by increased Social Security taxes, burdening both present i and future geierations. Confined at first to the aged, it would in- ! evitably he expanded to cover I1 all Americans only one way of doing anything; in short, anoth- !' i er monopoly. j Moreover, when the Federal ! i Government enters the privacy ji of the examination room con- ij i trolling both standards of prac- ji i' tlce and choice of practioner i the cost includes loss of freedom, ji Your Doctor's freedom to treat i you In an Individual way. Your ji freedom to choose your on doc- i tor. When the physician Is so- i cialized, so Is the patient. The King Bill Is comnulsnrv i health -care and socialized medi-12 cine for a specific group that I S soon will lead to socialized medicine medi-cine for everyone. For this reason we urge all citizens who agree for the good of our nation to make your opinion known to all members of our representatives In Congress. ' Wallace S. Brooke President Utah Medical Association |