FRIDAY. NOVEMBER 2. 1962
atiiiiiHiii Behind the News iiiiiiiiiiiiiii]||]iimiiiimiiiiiiitmiiiiiiiii£
Two
On
5 During the.recent session of Congress, the Kennedy- =
2 endorsed proposals for health insurance for the aged under E
5 social security-Tnade no headway. The defeat of this plan has =
= been made a major issue in the ■ current campaign throughout ~
2 the nation. The Daily Collegian therefore presents a summary E
2 of the plan with two views on the proposal prepared especially EE
'2 for this newspaper. tS
= Under the proposal, payment on behalf of every eligible =
2 older person would.be made as follows in each spell of illness: S
s' • Hospitalization—All costs of in-patient hospital services for ~
= JUP to 50. days, over and above $lO a day for the first 9 days. =
2 with a minimum of $2O. --
2 • Skilled nursing facility care—All costs for up to 180 davs'E
= after, transfer of the patient from a hospital. * =
2 • Hospital/ out-patient diagnostic sendees—All costs above 2
2 the.first $2O for each diagnostic study. 5
= • Home" health care—All costs of up__to 240 home health-care ~
■ 2 visits, a year by visiting nurses, physical and part- =
2 time homemakers. \ E
The Administration
2 Assistant Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare EE
2 Our aged people have, for .the. most part, quit working and
= no longer have earnings coming in. They live, on their social 2
5 security, their pensions, savings and the like. On the average, =
their incomes drop to approximately half that' of younger EE
2 people. 2
-2 At the same time, their need for hospital care more than 2
= doubles! E
2 These two facts together present the elderly person with EE.
2 an impossible problem. How can he spend substantially' more 2
2 for medical care from substantially less . income while his 2
2 needs for food, clothing and shelter remain .rather constant? E
2j . These facts led President Kennedy to recommend health- E
2| insurance for the aged through social security as the most E
, 2' practicable, conservative and effective way i to provide help to 2
2 our old people in obtaining -the medical care -they will in- E
. 2 evitably need. 2
2 The addition of health insurance for the aged to our social 2
E security system will deal with the one great remaining threat E
2 to the economic security of old people—the unpredictable E
2 cost of catastrophic illness. - 2
,2 As thing* stand now, even a retired person of modest 2
E means can be reduced to poverty and lifetime debt by • E
2 severe or long-lasting illness. Social security health insurance. EE
■■ 2 by helping older people get the care they might need, will 2
2 also actfto protect each older person's basic economic secur- 2
E ity— a freedom it took a lifetime of work to build. - E
2 ~ Health insurance of the aged under social security is 2
-2 simply a means of paying for health care and service for the '2
2 aged. Such a program would in no way interfere with the 2
. S practice of medicine or with the operation of our -hospitals.-
2 It -would simply be health insurance for those who need it E
.2 most and can least afford it—the older people of America. 2
.£ • E
Associate Editor, News Media Relations
2 Advocates for health care for the aged under social se- EE
2 cur ity often confuse the issue by trying to leave 1 with the 2
2 public the impression that those who oppose such legislation 2
E are against health care for the aged. Of course, this is not true. E
2 Doctors and all other socially responsible Americans want our 2
2 elderly citizens to have all the health care they need. The 2
-2 only question'is how to do it; the real issue is how such 2
2 health care should be financed. _ 2
2 The controversy poses a clear question—will the Ameri- EE
2 can—people receive better medical care under the present 2
S system of private health insurance plds federal assistance for E
2 those who need it or under a mammoth new federal program .2
2 based on compulsory higher taxes'that would provide benefits 2
2to all, regardless of need? /. 2
2. Opponents of the social Security approach favor voluntary E
2 health insurance for those able to purchase it and the federal- 2
= stale Kerr-Milli program far helping those who need help in 2
2 paying for medical care. j 2
2 They oppose overburdening the social • security system -E
2 with an' extremely expensive program outside ’the original .2
2 concept of social security. They oppose! taxing the nation's 2
E workers to pay for the hospitalization of persons who are able E
2 to pay their own way, just because those people h’ave passed E
2 their 85th birthdays. ! E
E They favor giving complete medical care under the Kerr- 2
s Mills program to all who are unable to meet the cost other- E
2 wise. .2
2 One of the major fallacies of providing health care for 2
E the aged under social security is that it is based on the false E
2 assumption that a majority of the aged are in. need of .medi- E
2 cal care and are unable to meet the cost. ;On the contrary, the 2
E majority of the nation’s. 17 million aged are in relatively good 2
2 health and financially able to take care of their medical costs. E
2 True, the cash income of older persons often is not as E
2 large as that of younger people. But neither are their financial 2
= obligations and needs. 2
2. A second way proponents of the social security approach E
2 becloud the issue Is by attempting to delude older personr, 2
2 into believing that all their health care problems would be 2
E solved by such a program. The -fact is that less than 25 per 2
5 cent of the cost of a typical illness would' be covered. E
2. .Voluntary health insurance .is doing a remarkable job. 2
S The growth of coverage for the elderly now is leading • all~ 2
E other areas of health insurance. More than 53 per cent of E
2 persons 65 and over already have health‘insurance. More ind 2
2 more private health insurance companies are offering more 2
E and better policies to older persons. The Blue Cross (hospi- 2
E talization) and Blue Shield (medical care) plans are offering E
2 special coverage to the aged. 2
2 ~ Advocates of the social security approach deny that their 2
2 current -proposal has any resemblance to socialized medicine. E
2 However, there ,is no denying that it is a compulsory govern- E
2 ment health program for one segment of the' population and 2
2 a step—a big, irreversible step—in the direction of the com- 2
E plete. socialization of medical care in this country. ’ E
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Viewpoints
Medicare
By WILBUR J. COHEN
The AMA
By DAYTON MOORE
American Medical Association
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN. UNIVERSITY PARK. PENNSYLVANIA
i Today is the final day for filing
a ! conflict in final exams. The list
of final exams is available at the
Scheduling Office in Willard.
! Maryland Students
:An information table for the
convenience s of Maryland students
Visiting Penn State for the week
end will be set up next to the
HUB desk from 8:30 a.jn. to 5:30
p;m.
V.|, v., • .. 'i i„. ji
tj As tha Generation of leaves, t ! ]
i | so is that of men.
? —Homer '
f WOMEN’S DEBATE
1 HAVE YOU BEEN TO
DEAN'S
WALK-IN
(Corner of Pugh tc Beaver)
IT NOT . . .
LOOK
HAMBURGERS
15c
THICK SHAKES
2Dc
FRENCH FRIES
10c
i We Cash Student Checks
*9
there can be no doubt that Art and Culture is art criticism of a very
j high order —the highest, I should say, in our time."*
CLEMENT GREENBERG on Modern Art
Sunday, November 4, 1962 8:30 P.M. ; Schwab Auditorium
j TICKETS AT HUtf •Kramer, Hilton, in Oct 1962
NOV. 2. 9-5 Students and Sales Arts Magazine, writing of
Presented by the school of the arts. a late Greenberg book
1
i *
: \i Sund
TODAY ON CAMPUS
Conflict Exams
Penn State Jazz Club Workshop
1 Ken Kuhn
1 V on
l Drums
\N
%Carl Lindsay
Junior Prom
The Junior Prom, featuring
Ronn Metcalfe and his orchestra,
will be held from 9 p,m. to 1
a.m. in the HUB ballroom. Tickets
for the semi-formal dance are on
sale at the booth outside the Lion’s
Den for $5 per couple.
Leviathan
The Leviathah, publication of
the Liberal Arts Student Council,
will be distributed in residence
halls: Copies will also be available
Cosmopolitan Club
Trip To U.&
NOV. 18-19
To Attend General
Assembly
Number Is Limited
To 29 Persons
Sign Up At International
Student Attain Office
! on or before Nov. 2
AWS Applications
lor
Commuting Students'Chairman
Are Available at the HUB Desk
-.Deadline for returning forma
to the HUB desk U noon of
Saturday, November 3
Any Questions? Call —UN 5-44 SS
Enjoy the exciting jazz of
Ken Kuhn Quintet
Bob Streeter
f Nov. 4 1-5 p.m.
HUB Ballroom
at the Helzet Union desk. j
Other Events
American Society of Agricultural
Engineers registration. 11 a.nv
2 p.m.. HUB first floor; meeting,
12-5 p.m., HUB assembly room,
Presbyterian University Fellow
ship. 7:30 p.m. Presbyterian
University Center. 132 W Bea
ver Ave.
UCA. 9am, HUB ballroom.
New College Diner
Downtown. .tho/Moyic*
LAST TVfp P'YS
TWIMIIT AT (INTER 9TA4R
Ty Brown & /
° n m
Alto Sax Is X/ | :
V/ .1
Don Krebs
on
Vibes
PAGE FIVI