Published: October 01, 2008 03:16 pm            

Yesterday in Newton: Looking Back - Part IV Medicare

NEWTON — This interesting editorial published in the Newton Record on May 17, 1967 gives some interesting information that people can talk about and compare the past with the present. The focus on Medicare will conclude with the editorial as follows:



Hospital Week

Your Hospital-City of Care is theme for National Hospital Week that is observed this week by Newton Hospital and the local Auxiliary. A hospital is really a city populated with many people of varied back rounds and skills - their wages and skills comprising two-thirds of a hospital’s operating expense. High quality patient care is aim of the hospital administrators.

The public exerts pressure and clamors for more services, the latest scientific equipment, skilled technicians and nurses, modern comforts and quality patient care. Hospital administrators also want these services, but they must balance budgets to provide them, and attempt to keep cost of hospital care within reach of the patients.

The local hospital is a City of Care, staffed by 51 people, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to protect and restore health. Since hospitals provide personal service that cannot be automated, 2 1/2 persons are required to care for each hospital patient.

The Newton Hospital was approved last week for medicare benefits under Department of Health, Education and Welfare. This will bring heavier patient load under this program. Already the majority of the people have hospital expense insurance of some kind, and may have surgical expense protection. These insurance benefits, plus the diminishing of home calls by physicians, have flooded hospitals over America with patients.

Despite the increased cost of medical care, and the increased medical benefits, the American public in 1965 spent nearly as much for recreation ($26.3 billion) as it did for medical care, according to Health Insurance Institute news. As long as expenditure on recreation is near that for medical care, the situation has not reached straining point.

Some people believe that before medicare man lived by the law of the jungle. The history of formal medicine disproves this fancy. The American Medical Association was organized in 1847 and thus began a crusade for better medical care. Today the Association membership is more than 206,000 physicians. The AMA carries on a continuing program to promote betterment of public health. Most of the health laws on the statute books today are on proposals and recommendations of the AMA. The Association has been described as the guardian of the nation’s health.

So, on this Hospital Week, potential hospital patients (one in every eight in 1966) can be grateful for hospitals, for physicians, for modern saving drugs, for the AMA. The aging may include medicare in their gratitude list. The average man can be thankful for health insurance. Because of these life expectancy is increasing.

        

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