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Show PIIOGIKESSIVE, OPINION r rfheAmerican Farm Family Is Now EnjoyinglhT Conveniences and Benefits of Prepaid Hospital Care Through Blue Cross Hospita Service Plans I " ' U ''(' UllMM iiiiiW jf. ..Maai '"..ym, "fiiim m gj Sis is visited by Mother and Dad, Blue Cross hospital plan subscribe I By ELMO SCOTT WATSON Released by Western Newspaper Union. is the story of "the THIS growing move-ment in the country" one that is adding to the health and peace of mind of millions of Americans. Seven years ago there were fewer than 600,000 of those Americans. Today there are more than 14,000,000 more than one-ten- th of our whole population and it's likely that by the end of the year that number will have risen to 18,000,000. This movement is group hospital insurance which, un-der the stimulation of war-time conditions, has become a $100,000,000 a year business. And, as the result of the Blue Cross Hospital Service plan, sponsored by the American Hospital association, Mr. John Q. Citizen, one of these 14,000,000, has the assurance that, should illness or acci-dent make hospital care nec-essary for him or some mem-ber of his family, his pocket-boo- k will not be suddenly and devastatingly depleted. And the peace of mind which comes from the assurance of that fact has been purchased by John Q. at an average cost of less than five cents a day! However, the significant fact about this story for readers of this newspaper is that the group hos-pital service plan has spread to the rural areas of the nation and is rapidly becoming as common as it has been in metropolitan centers. Of course, it has always been true that farmers and members of their fami-lies get sick or have accidents just as do factory workers. The same is true of employees of business firms in villages and small towns. In fact, both classes need help and often are less able to pay hospital bills than are the middle class- - or groups in the big cities. So there was quite as much reason for their having the benefit of low-co-planned and "prepaid" hospital care as for their city cousins having it. The principal reason why they didn't get it sooner lay in certain factors which are the very heart of the planned hospital care idea. Of those factors the word "group" is the key. First of all, enrollment of mem-bers in such a plan has to be through groups and these groups have to be large enough so that, as In any in-surance of this one type, their mem-bers are "good risks." With the popu-lation so scattered in rural areas, it seemed that it would be almost im-possible either to enroll people or to make collections from them. It seemed also that groups would be sb small and so few that each sub-scriber would be in effect an "indi-vidual" subscriber, hence a hazard-ous risk. Then, too, it was believed that the people of rural America, especially farmers, are such indi-vidualists and independent thinkers that they could not be enrolled in hospitalization groups large enough to be Comes the 'Blue Cross.' For these, and other, reasons the earliest plans for hospital care were concentrated in the big cities where large industries, whose em-ployees were numbered by the thou-sands, . offered the best for opportunity handling such insurance on a group basis. Then came the organi- zation of the Hospital Service Plan commission of the American Hospi- tal association to sponsor the "Blue Cross" movement. "Blue Cross''' is a general term which identifies the 77 group plans for hospital care which meet the standards of com-munity service, professional spon-sorship, it organization and financial solvency and which have been approved by the American Hos-pital association. Not only did the Blue Cross move- ment expand the planned hospital care idea in the cities but it was chiefly responsible for its "moving out into the country." It spread to the smaller cities and towns first and then out to the farms. It's true that farmers are "independent thinkers" but as one of the pioneer workers In the rural, field has stated, they are also "shrewd buyers and are quick to take to something once its value has been proved." So now farmers are being enrolled through banks with which they do business and which are willing to cooperate through their farm bureaus, their granges, their farmers' unions co operatives, creameries, and other farmer-busines- s asso-ciations. In the cities, workers who are buy-ing hospital protection pay for it by payroll deduction. Farmers, who ll through banks, authorize those institutions to make periodic deduc-tions from their checking or savings accounts to pay the required fees. Where they enroll through cream-eries or cooperatives, periodic de-ductions are made from their cream or grain checks and those who en-roll through the grange, farm bureau or farmers' union pay their fees on a quarterly, 'semiannual or annual basis, mostly the latter two. How the Plan Works. Although there are 77 different group plans for hospital care and they differ from each other In some minor details, here is the essen-tial method of their operation: The hospitals in a certain region city, county or state guarantee hospital service to Blue Cross subscribers, whether they are members of groups in factories, city offices, edu-cational institutions, clubs, union organizations or farm groups, who have agreed to pay a certain amount for this service at regular intervals. This amount varies somewhat ac-cording to the group plan. Mem-bership costs from $7.20 to $10.20 a year for one person and from $15 to $24 a year for the member and his family, including bis wife and aU unmarried children under the age of 18 In Minnesota, where the pioneer-ing work In farm enrollment was done, there is a plan which offers a man complete coverage for himself and 50 per cent discounts for his wife and children at $12 a year, plus $3 for each adult dependent. In return for these payments the insured, or member of his family, who has to go to a hospital gets a semi-privat- e room, his meals, gen-eral nursing, anesthetics, special diets, dressings, laboratory tests. and operating room charges. (This does not include, however,- - the physician's or surgeon's fees.) He can enter any one of the country's approved, registered hospitals, that is those hospitals recognized as meeting the standards of the Ameri-can Medical association or state and local agencies. If for any reason one of these hos-pitals can't take him in because of lack of room, some of the plans pay back double the year's premium, but many of them provide cash pay- ments for home care equivalent to the amount that the hospital care would have been worth. However, there have been very few instances when a Blue Cross member couldn't get into a hospital becaue the num-ber of these institutions which par-ticipate in the plan is 2,500 with 80 per cent of the bed capacity of all the hospitals in the United States open to the public. Reference has been made to the pioneering work done in Minnesota in rural enrollment in hospital plans It began in 1938 under the auspices of the farm bure.au in Hennepin county with 42 family contracts for a total service coverage of 90 per- sons. Since then farm bureau mem-berships in that state have increased to 6,200 contracts with 22,400 per-son- s covered for hospital care. These, in 325 local units in til coun- ties have found the plan highly suc- cessful and satisfactory. There are of JTnfr bureaSuUte and a total units so that three-fourth- s of all the counties in Minnesota now have units enrolled m the Blue Cross and more than h of the units are already protecting themselves against sud- den hospitalization costs. . From Minnesota farm buteaj sponsorship of prepaid hospital ca has spread to other states notsbb Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Nori Dakota and Oklahoma, until no there are 15 in which farm bureaj federation members may take st vantage of Blue Cross plans throngii their unit groups. In December, 1942, the American Farm bureau ai its annual meeting in Chicago wrote into its nationwide program of wori a strong indorsement of the n profit group hospital care plans anj other rural health developmer.li that lend themselves to farm familj unit action. However, the farm bureau is at the only agency through which the hospital plan is being carried to tit farms of the nation. In Hillsdale county, Mich., the Farmers Mutual Fire Insurance company, a t operative, was used as the group through which ti put the hospital plan into operation In northern Illinois, the Nortken Illinois Hospital service, serving counties and their small tov.xa, ranging in population from 300 ti 1,500, have worked in with Rotary, Kiwanis and Lira clubs, with women's clubs, PTAs. Veterans of Foreign Wars posts ad churches, farm bureaus, corr.; bureaus and granges. As a resit it these 11 counties more than 4.5K farm families, representing 13.5X individuals are Blue Cross member;. Combined Business Groups. In North Carolina a great marry ol the small groups in the small tora are enrolled as combined business groups. This type of enrollment means combining many small bu-sinesses into a group, getting 75 pel cent or more of the employes in these various small concerns to b-ecome members of the Blue Cross. In some of these combined groups, as many as 800 persons join. Tcesi groups consist of drug stores, gr-ocery stores, warehouses etc. The FSA has also been active in coop-erating with the Blue Cross plans in North Carolina and other states in bringing prepaid hospital care low income families. Indicative of the way in which small town and rural America is enlisting under the Blue Cross to-ner are these facts taken at random from many examples. In one Ion town of 592 population, 445 or 'i P cent have enrolled in a hospital care plan and in another town of 4,405, total of 2,214 or 50 per cent have joined. In one Wisconsin commur.it! the local power company acts as collector and remitting agent aa the people of the community A have enrolled pay for this us-ance along with their monthly el trie bills. This town has a popu-lation of 1,000 and out of a 450 persons employed in the to11" 155 have enrolled, there b1 family contracts and 41 iiidivi:- contracts. Such instances could be mul-tiplied indefinitely. From all of w it is evident that rural Araer:"j: indeed "shrewd buyers and quick take to something once its vaW has been proved." As for proving w value, ask the Blue Cross merr in New York state who was recer.J. hospitalized for 53 days. His tract covered him for 23 da) one contract year and 28 daj of 51 ! the new year, a total His total hospital bill, was When he was ready to be dischar, from the hospital, he was hana hospital service credit of : That meant he had to pay u CSiJ to the hospital only $12.25. "It's a thrill that comes once a lifetime," he said. And then, naturally, he added, "I thinU service is a great idea. Why a Farmer Should Buy and Keep War Bonds by Paul A. Eke Agricultural Economist College of Agriculture Moscow, Idaho THE American farmer is ready to make personal sacri-fices beyond what the government has asked him to do by direct taxation. He will do this to hasten the end of the war and in this way save lives and the mental an-guish which comes from separa-tion of families and living under strange and uncomfortable condi-tions, both on the battle fronts and in defense centers. The mostlog-ica- l sacrifice for the next few months is to operate the farm as economically as possible consist-ent with high production and to spend as little as is consistent with good health and spiritual alertness for living costs, and then put the balance into War Bonds. The farmer will in 1944 be more able than during the past 2 or 3 years to buy Bonds. Up until 1941 most farmers had gone through 10 years of acute agricultural depres-sion and 20 years of below normal incomes. Most of them had long-time and current indebtedness forcing their hands at all times. Now in the main these debts are in a shape in which the farmer is master or they are completely paid off and forgotten. The farmer has at last a free choice as to what he will do with his modest and d "earnings." From the standpoint of good business there are many good rea-sons for buying Bonds now and keeping them. 1. It is better to buy Bonds than to bid against other farmers for what few farms are now for sale and thus, inflate land prices. 2. It is better to reduce large in-ventories of livestock and put the money in Bonds now when meat is much needed and high priced than to carry over into the postwar period or into the next drought when there will be rapid liquidation and prob-ably packing house gluts and lower prices. 3. Farmers are all familiar with the wisdom of saving now to replace equipment wearing out but not being replaced. 4. Saving money as Bonds will make possible new homes, barns and conveniences after the war when the boys need a job installing these things. 5. Perhaps we need to mention the high pressure stock and town real estate salesmen and sellers of other "gold bricks". Buy Bonds and be out of ready funds when these "gents" ap-pear. Of course there is the matter of retirement for many farmers soon after the war. War Bonds will be a place where the best interest rates now available for savings can be made. Perhaps the chil-dren will need more education aft-er the war, or the boys may need some financial assistance in start-ing in farming or in other lines of business. It is hard now to buy anything except necessities and get our money's worth. For that reason, let us go along with the patriotic citizens of our country and put our financial power back of Uncle Sam. U. S. Treasury Department Smart Spring Symphony in Pale Green At Very Low Cost, Too - - 5 if I I " 1 ''''' i . lt I A spring symphony is this pale green afternoon dress with softly-drape-neckline and impressed pleats. Smart women know that they can have a new wardrobe and be patriotic too. By muring their own clothes they are assured of professional fit and finish, at a very low cost, and can buy extra War Bonds with their savings. Sewing Leaflet 'No. 501R mxr be obtained by sending a stamped envelope to the fashion department of this newspaper. a. S. Treasury Department ITEMS OFTRUTH While the mad orgy of capitalism was on they would listen to nothing- that savored of moral law; they wanted nothing of wisdom and guidance from a power above the world, and so it all ended in the "unworthy and humiliating exploitation of the nature and personality of man." The same forces are on the way back to their plundering and blundering. They have not learned their lesson. But let us tell them that they will learn it completely, and that very soon. Don't think the government is without plans for post-war action. Here is one that looms big and should be car-ried out to the letter. In the great Western region it plans to do a big reclamation job in all or parts of seventeen states which make up one-thir- d of the country's land area. In this region there are only 20,000,000 acres out of 900,-000,0- acres irrigated, which leaves ample room for the creation of a new empire. It is planned to get water for an additional 20,000,000 acres and double the population. This will be done by dams, reservoirs, drainage, power projects and home building which will employ tens of thousands. In the great Mississippi valley they claim that an additional 5,000,000 acres may be reclaimed and irrigated, thus invit-ing other thousands to make homes there. Every citizen should be interested in the basic cause, which is, the terrifying presence of abject want ort one side and the shameful pride of wealth and luxury and opu-lence on the other, not so bad yet in our own land ; but look at India, China, Spain, Greece, Mexico, and all the other countries. One man traveled through a South American country and came back with the remark, "They have every-thing and yet they need everything," meaning that the land is rich in resources and the few have all and the mil-lions nothing. "It is the torturing, implacable divergence between the few and the many." To develop the spiritual life is the greatest work that man can perform. To promote the spiritual life of the mind and the feeling is more important than all other things. To develop spiritually we must study the spiritual truths until we know them and feel them, find the spiritual center of ourselves and see that it is connected up with the divine power. It is not true that spiritual development can come through the intellect alone. The feeling is more important than the knowing. To know and feel the spiritual truths we must have a deep desire of both mind and heart. People can have little real joy in material things unless, along with it they gain the power of the spiritual. Indeed, there is little to live for unless this is done. As one says: "To be spiritual is to be complete in body, mind and soul; to live the fullness of real life in every element of life, and to bring forth the truest, the best and the most beautiful that exists within us. To become spiritual is to refine every-thing, perfect everything, beautify everything and make the ideal real, not only in thought but in every part of physical life, mental life and spiritual life." How proud and busy they were in the ly Nine-teen Twenties crying, "Wealth will save us. We can now create permanent prosperity. Business is the god, Profit is the Saviour. Our faith in the material will draw us to-gether and bring about universal Brotherhood. All is well !" Such was the vain word spoken by the "big" leaders of that day. But suddenly, like a thunderbolt, the awful reality dawned and the bubble burst. Millions became dis-illusioned. Untold millions suffered. And yet, it seems, the lesson was in vain because they are heading back to the same flesh pots and are again reaping the whirlwind. The world is being wrecked because the fools of big busi-ness will not let in the light. In scripture Japan is identified with Ammon, descended from the illegitimate child of Lot by one of his daughters, and is linked with Asiastic Babylon as told in II Esdras, 15:46, in the Apocrypha, which brings down the sternest denunciation with a promise of the most severe retribution on this cruel and wicked nation. The atrocities we have heard about are but a drop in the bucket to what she has done to prisoners and civilians. And thus has she sinned all through her history. By common consent, says one writer, her mil-itarists are a horde of treacherous and yellow thugs. The Lord has said about Japan, II Esdras 15:56 (RV) "Like as thou shalt do unto my chosen so God shall do unto thee." And in the same chapter, Verses 49-6- 3, is portrayed the terrible end that awaits that nation, which is virtual annihilation, his annihilation will come by allied mass air attacks which will "devour thee and. thy cities; all thy woods and fruitful trees shall they burn with fire . . . and they shall spoil thy wealth and mar the glory of thy face." And it is also promised that what is left will be swept away by earthquakes, volcanic outbursts and floods, which will culminate in the worst disaster she has experienced. Says the Lord, "I will send evils upon thee ; famine, sword, pesti-lence, to waste thy houses unto destruction and death. And the glory of thy power shall be dried up as a flower, when the heat shall arise that is sent over thee." (Verses 49-50- ). Again in Esdras 20, He says : "The beginning of famine and great death, when many of them shall perish of famine; and the others that escape the hunger shall the sword destroy." And Zephaniah says,, "The children of Ammon (the Japanese) shall be as Gomorrah, a perpetual desola-tion." In biblical times they were as cruel as they are today. (I Samuel, 9:2. Amos 1:13.) Their last appearance in the bible shows that their characteristics are hatred of Israel and cunning cruelty. Young Opera Star Leans to Pinafores and War Bonds i lilllK liiallili The young: American concert-oper- a star, Marjory Hess, has her victory garden rambling over this colorful pinafore apron. It is a life saver for your party dresses, and fun to make, even for a beginner. Miss Hess sug-gests making several aprons because then, with a minimum of time and effort, you will save enough money to buy extra War Bonds and stamps. Suitable patterns may be obtained at your local pattern store. U, S. Treasury Department Alfred Sorenson Progressive Jeweler 75 East Second South Jewelry, Watch. Kodak Repairing Over 40 Years In SALT LAKjS CITY, - The World's News Seen Through , The Christian Science Monitor An International Daily Newspaper Published by THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING SOCIETY One, Norway Street, Boston, Massachusetts I U Truthful Constructive Unbiased Free from Sensational- - I ism Editorials Are Timely and Instructive and Its Daily I Features, Together with the Weekly Magazine Section, Mak the Monitor an Ideal Newspaper for the Home. I Price i 12.00 Yearly, or $1.00 a Month. Saturday Issue, including Magazine Section, 2.60 a Year. Introductory Offer, 6 Saturday Issues 25 Cents. Obtainable mti CHRISTIAN SCIENCE READING ROOM 702 Mclntyre Bldg. I Salt Lake City, Utah .Jj ir , - :i2"lmmon in SevenlS I families against the costs'of hospital care was extended to more than 13,000,000 persons in wto 0 additiona! participant the United States and Canada elected to enroll in Blue Cross Pian, This figure i, exclusive of 750,000 suspended contracts held by sh scribers in the armed forces, who may renew protection upon their to civilian life. These facts are revealed by Hn-- Rrem' Sector of which co 6HrViCf Plan sion! the activities and approves the policies of 78 Blue Cross cinad- CSted in 38 States an seven provinces. The proportion of enrolled has steadily LelTi. from 37 per cent in 1937 to the presl 54 per cent, thus indicating a Sfb mfde,lre by comerc aI i'1,""1 ttoo dpurosteaclt tehmeipr woyiveer,. and children, as well as themsel Here is the record for the years: f. Year Total parii- (January Partlcl- - S"N V,nB 1st) pants "'bJr' 37 1937..... 534,745 63 1938.... 1,364,975 80 1939.... 2,874,055 54 L 1940.... 4,431,772 55 j 1941.... 6,049,222 51 1942.... 8,456,265 L 1943. ...10,458,898 1944.... 13,005.493 f |