OCR Text |
Show THE AMERICAN Wa7T"'' 1 Hospital Service Non-Socialized ' By' George Peck' t, jLLllL3 the nation's struggle for freedom are the heavy expenses which follow fol-low an unpredictable and unexpected unexpect-ed need for hospital care expenses expen-ses seldom allowed for in the individual in-dividual or family budget. "The recognition of this problem in recent depression years prompted prompt-ed the establishment of Associated Hospital Service of New York In 1934 so that men and women of moderate incomes could plan, on a non-profit group prepayment basis, to meet the cost of future hospital needs. ''Sixty seven non-profit hospital service plans, all similar to the New York organization today serve an area containing approximately j 80 percent of the population of the ; United States. With a total enroll-iment enroll-iment of over 11,000,000 which is I increasing at the rate of about 6,000 a day these Plans have paid hospitals more than $150,000,000 for I the care of the subscribers in the last few years. The new York plan alone has paid out for the hospital expenses of its subscribers more than $40,000,000." Senators Wagner and Murray should study the plans and opera, tion of these BLUE CROSS Hospital Hos-pital Service Organizations. They permit the citizen o provide the best of hospitalization for hlmself-TO hlmself-TO STAND ON HIS OWN TWO FEET at a cost of 3c per day. The Wagner-Murray Bill, on the other hand, would have the government gov-ernment provide him with inferior infer-ior hospitalization at a greater eventual cost to himself, and ac accompanying loss of his self-reliance, his dignity and his freedom. Recently we made rather caustic comment about Senate Bill 1161, introduced last spring by Senators Wagner of New York and Murray of Montana, which is to come before be-fore this present session of Congress Con-gress for debate, and we earnestly pray for defeat. That's the bill, you will recall, that proposes to take the practice of medicine, hospitals hos-pitals and clinics out of private hands, and turn them ovai lock, stock and barrel to the federal bureaucrats to control and mismanage. mis-manage. Nothing could be more un-American than this abortive proposal nothing could be more contrary to the idealogies and concepts upon which this nation has been built. The very thought of even a remote possibility that the citizens of this country would ever have to crawl to some petty politician or ward-heeler to obtain the services of a physician or hospitalization, is repugnant to every red-blooded thinking American. But that, my dear friends, is the untenable position po-sition in which you will be if the Wagner-Murray Bill becomes law. One of our friends who looked over our former dissertation against the Wagner-Murray Bill, said to us: 'TVhat you say may be true, but what provision would you make for those people of moderate means who are overtaken by illne3s or accident?" The answer to our friend's question ques-tion was writted in Dalles, Texas, some fourteen years ago when a group of l,5t)0 school teachers pioneered pio-neered a hospital service plan. From this humble beginning has grown a movement known as the "BLUE CROSS", which now spread eagles the nation. But here let us hand over the ball to the Associated Associa-ted Hospital Service of New York. We quote from some of their printed literature. "The ability of American men and women to STAND ON THEIR OWN FEET when faced with emergencies emer-gencies has long been a part of our national tradition and pride. Individual independence, however, is becoming, increasingly difficult to preserve. "Foremost among the causes of dependence upon others in days when every available dollar is being be-ing used to assure the success of |