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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 14, 1972)
With Ron Hendron A YOUNG VIEW OF WASHINGTON iti - “Dating" a Disease THE ELDERLY: A MINORITY MOST OF US LIVE TO JOIN By Ron Hendren King Solom on anti King D avid L td vary marry Uvei, With very many concublnei A n d very many wlvei, U n til o ld age came creeping With very many q ualm i, Then Solom on w rote the Proverbi A n d D avid w rote the Ptalm j. A u th o r unknow n. W A S H IN G T O N - The oldest m em ber o f the 1972 United States men's O lym p ic swim m ing team was an ancient 25. The o o m m e n ta to n and experts could scarcely contain their am azem ent that a man so many years beyond his prim e could have made the team And while for moat o f us 25 is not a particularly frightening age. that swim m er has already felt the pinch w hich every day forces scores o f Am ericans o ut o f jobs, and in some cases nearly out o f society The victims are the elderly For the O lym p ic com petitors w ho w ill be too old to participate in fu tu re games, new doors w ill open and new careers w ill begin. For many o f the e lderly, there is no such hope O nly the miaery o f disease, the despair o f being in w ant and the loneliness o f being forgotten. Today, one in every ten Am ericans is 65 or older By the end o f this century - and let s face it, that's not so far a w a y — the figure w ill be closer to one in six, or roughly 28 m illion persons. At a tim e in their lives during which they could con tribute most in term s o f experience, these Americans have been given the least o p p o rtu n ity A t a tim e when they most need medical care, they can least affo rd it At a tim e when friendship and com panions are vital, they are o fte n all but forgotten A nd so the story gi>es. More than three-fourths o f our aged suffer fro m at least one chronic disease O ne-half suffer fro m tw o or more Per sons 65 o r over are tw ice as lik e ly to be in need o f medical care, and, once hospi talized, tend to stay twice as long as young people Physical and m ental health are related and it follow s as no surprise that the incidence o f psychiatric problems is highest among the elderly, who also make up the largest segment o f patients con fined to m ental hospitals. A t the same tim e, h alf o f the families whose heads o f household are over 65 have incomes o f barely 5 5 ,0 0 0 per year In fact, a fo u rth have incomes o f under 5 3 ,00 0 . O f the older people living alone, h alf have incomes o f le u than 5 2 ,0 0 0 per year. These problems are not n ew , they simply have grown through tack o f a tte n tion . Aa early as 1961 the W hite House Conference on Aging unanim ously called for the creation o f an In s titu te o f G eron tology w ith in the National Institutes o f H ealth. And in every Congress since 1960 William L. Springer (R -IU .J has in tro duced legislation in the House o r Repre sentatives to do just that A ll to no avail. But earlier this year his proposal fi nally passed the House I f H R. 14424 u ltim a te ly clears the Senate the bill w ill accomplish tw o im p o rtan t objectives. First, it will establish the long sought for In s titu te o f Aging which w ill serve as a focal point fo r all activities w ith in the National Institutes o f Health that relate to the elderly. Second, the b ill specifically provides for the construction and staffing o f facili ties for the m ental health o f the aged as an adjunct to the already-funded C o m m u n ity M ental H ealth Centers A related measure, H R 1 5 6 5 7 , which also passed the House, proposes to estab lish m ulti-purpose senior citizen centers, extend volunteer programs fo r older Amencans and expand existing n u tritio n programs. A ll in all, it is a com m endable i f long overdue package, one which Americans young and old would be well-served to support. The elderly comprise a m in o rity which sooner o r later most o f us jo in , however u nw illing ly. And we have the o p p o rtu n ity and the obligation to make that period o f life as fu ll and rich and meaningful as any other © C o p yrig h t I » 7 J by W ashington weekly , inc A ll rig h t* rew rved P o rtla n d /O b s e rv e r THE r FAM ILY^ LAWYER „ If you need an operation but have no hospital insurance, you might get the following bright idea take out insurance first, then have the operation. Obviously, the insurance com panies would not like this sort of thing. To prevent It, health insurance policies often say you are not covered for a "pre-exist ing" illness that is, an illness you already had when you bought the insurance. liut when does a disease really begin? Fixing a specific date is not always easy In one sense, in terms of latent susceptibility, a disease may be traced all the way back to birth. As a poetic judge once put it: ' ‘ The seeds of death are sown when the first breath of life is drawn.’* Thursday. Septem ber 14, 1972 NROTC SCHOLARSHIPS ailment he already knew he had. But in another case, a woman did collect for xurgery on a bun ion, made suddenly worse when she bumped into a door. The court said the change in her condition was so unexpected and so drastic that it could fairly be called a brand new affliction. FREE BOOKS TUITION, $ 1 0 0 per month APPLY BEFORE NOV. 1,1972 TELEPHO NE: 2 8 2 -5 0 6 0 SEE YOUR NAVY M AN IN PORTLAND 4 0 0 8 N.E. U N IO N A public service feature o f the Am erican B a r A s s o c ia tio n a n d th e O r e g o n S la te B a r A asocia- a lio n . W r it t e n b y W i l l B e r n a r d . © 1972 American Bar Association VYHM KIRBY FORD’S OUTOF OUR EARS \ "M y . Kirby, you vegoT cars ana trucks running ou+of your But the law generally dates a disease from the time when "dia- coverable symptoms” first appear. Take the case of a woman who had a gall bladder operation. The insurance company refused Io pay her expenses, because she had had occasional stomach pains before taking out the policy. " I hose pains,” argued the com pany in a court hearing, "mean she must have already had gall bladder trouble at that time. Therefore, it was 'pre-existing'.** But the court disagreed and up held the woman’s claim. The judge said mere pain was not a clear enough signal of what she had. Suppose the disease is already known and simply gets worse. That usually is not covered. One man had cataracts when he bought a disability insurance policy. His sight gradually faded, and he finally became blind. Was this a pre-existing condition, ex cluded from his insurance cover age’’ A court said it was indeed, be cause the blindness was a natural, foreseeable development of an W hat makes Wonder Bread so fresh? ears„.’Dereis only von solution, youi must sell dem aba If price dey can’t resist.1 '72 Galaxie • Í T ; í ' í k' jd X ’" W M d . V I. power broke*. elec. clock, ro d « , din befe. imto w W cower», wh.t» wq U fir « . Stk No. 72-8500 ONLY '72 Stats. *3 5 8 7 s4 '72 Pinto Sdn Oi’ Str wnyt t r " 2 W C ™ , Z > H , Z ” « T ^ tS jig I nnyd tnm, 2000 engine, whitewall tire*, come’ed <1 iccent g'ovp. ti/veo giau. roo.o. Stk. No. 72 8747 now * 2 2 0 3 20 '72 Pickup Ford Wagon 3/4 Tea ^•*50, Whit®, 360 cu in Vt, pouge*. 4 r W * , ! ’ * *D * O « . I ta. - - - - - - ------a .e w v a a a « w • rv * « * ï« ' l * W R“ U 1U U ' 501 1 ó ? T * ire*, IU1Ä2 glees. Wheelcowre, Remo® M ir r o r . Stk. No. 8508. Sta No. T72-2706 • * poskoga. »port M M T to tn m d now 43596 67 2 Dr dtp Green, Vg. ovtomotic, powar steering, wh.tewc.1 tir,«, viti. '72 Torino *®»7 F M 1. kaafy moldings, wheel covers. Sik. No. 72-8773 H.O. M . powar M m k » ouLT^aoa1“ '72 Pinto *v«obovt, 3 Door Medium Graen, block rinyt Mm, 2000 angina. 4 j 'ÎT/' O ik ; whitewall tirai, oceani group, ro d « . Stk No. 72- rnia’ 3 0 3 3 ” SUSNl,t 2 2 5 8 ,< with every purchase , a dozen KBeB Y/e come in a ITKEE •Sta-fresh wrapper 1 3 5 CARS to Choose From! E A R S ( o p corn THAT IS) 6 0 TRUCKS to Choose From! Â IS 0 1 9 7 2 DEMONSTRA TOR (lE A N -U P -A H Must Co NOW! 1972 Cran Tartot Speri J Doer Wordtop. le d . while fop block trim. 351 cu in V I. ow* powar tfwaneg, powar broket, well», alec clock, V>»tb4iN group er guard*, tinted gio»», dia boft». Domo Stk N a 72-8383 1972 Cokato Ginget Claw, 2 I'ooc Hardtop, '!> , A >r Canditic-irtg, sM »r- •ng. »‘ «wer Hrokoi, I ''tu ft. Wl »•r». Woodgrat'’ in- •tn iiK A t i« rw l. Brown rm>| iWint » tnjw , ilTalJ!, radix. ; Wnio, M t \ y . 7». M101 Ever wonder why Wonder Bread is always fresh? Because every loaf is wrapped warm from the oven in our Sta-Fresh bag. Then rushed into a bakery truck while it’s still warm. So you can be sure Wonder’s always fresh in the store. Wonder Enriched Bread—not just fresh and delicious...it’s also good and nutritious. Wonder helps build strong bodies 12 ways» Page S 3512“ 78 1972 Into 500 ’ ' 4 * 1972 Mavarkk Sedan. WNte. Medi «tsyt av-mmaw. <H> hNt>. m* M bm . Ward glow, . V » w l a . , amo ,n ju . D w . SA Na. 72-819* *2718” »4092“ O P IN IV I» T,l9 PM LYNN KIRBY FORD N .E B ro a d w o y a t 1st 7 8 8 -5 2 1 1 5430 N lo m b o r d 2 8 8 5 2 1 6
