Portland Observer, May 11, 1963 Section I Page 5
D.C. bans
racist acts
Washington Hot Line
by Congressman Ron Wyden
W A S H IN G T O N . D .C . — O regon
D e m o cratic C o n g re n m a n R on
Wyden has introduced legislation he
says w ill help trim health care coats
and p ro m o te "re s p o n s ib le and
effective*' competition in the health
care field by encouraging develop
ment o f a new, health care financing
alternative.
Under this financing alternative,
called the P re fe rre d P ro vid er
a rra n g em en t, doctors and o ther
providers agree to provide services
for a set fee in return for being listed
as "preferred providers."
Consumers who participate in the
preferred provider arrangement are
free to obtain their health care from
whomever or wherever they choose.
I f they elect to receive the care from
those on the list o f "preferred pro
viders,” however, they will receive a
Latin American
economies
discount or some o ther fin a n c ia l
advantage.
A lth o u g h many P re fe rre d P ro
vider Organizations (P P O s) already
have grown up around the country,
Wyden said they are discouraged in
many areas by discrim inatory state
laws and regulations.
For example, the Oregon D em o
crat said, some states have laws
w hich p ro h ib it insurers fro m
varyin g the am ou n t o f paym ent
made am ong providers o f services
— an essential part o f preferred pro
vider arrangements.
O th e r states p ro h ib it insurers
from influencing a covered patient's
choice o f physician or other p ro
vider, he said.
W yden's b ill would pro hib it en
fo rcem ent o f such law s, thus
clearing the way for fu rth er devel
opment o f the PPO alternative, the
(Continued fro m page I column 6)
ticks may be graphically measured
as hard-pressed governments raid
dwindling national reserves to meet
their scheduled debt payments.
Most countries have tackled the
dual problems of lower export earn
ings and a growing external debt by
devaluing their currency. The aim is
to reduce the ability to import, while
domestically produced goods are
made cheaper and thus more attrac
tive to foreign buyers. Unfortunate
ly, higher prices and galloping in
flation often follow.
Inflation, of course, is not new in
Latin America. W hat is new is its
widespread nature and greater mag
nitude. Overall consumer prices
soared to an all time high of 80 per
cent last year, with national infla
tion rates reaching 200 percent in
Argentina and 100 percent in Mexico
Oregon Congressman said.
His bill, however, does not dictate
to local comm unities the fo rm that
p re fe rre d p ro v id e r arrang em en ts
may take, or the conditions under
which they m ay be established, he
said.
" I n this time o f escalating health
care costs, the last thing Congress
wants to do is discourage develop
ment o f in n o v a tiv e , co m p e titiv e
health care financing arrangements
o f this sort.” Wyden said.
" W h a t we w ant to do — and
w hat my b ill does — is rem ove
impedim ents which have a ch illing
effect on development o f PPOs and
other creative health care financing
alternatives so that they can develop
to their full potential."
W yd en , w ho last year au th ored
prospective paym ent legislation to
re fo rm the w ay hospitals are re
im bursed by M e d ic a re , said the
PPO concept is one that adds up for
consumers and providers alike.
" T h e consumer wins because he
or she can get health care at reduced
costs, w ith o u t being locked in to
specific providers o f care. Hospitals,
physicians and other providers win
because they are guaranteed a stable
source o f patients and prompt, full
payment that helps assure a steady
cash flo w ."
In people term s, this b ill w ould
mean coverage fo r all o f those
161,500 O regonians who are u n
employed, uninsured and who have
exhausted their benefits w ithin the
last two years.
Because there is no accurate tally
o f how many o f the nearly 200,000
unemployed Oregonians are without
any form o f insurance, it is impos
sible to pinpoint a specific number
who would be impacted by this bill.
It is safe to say, however, that thou
sands will.
This b ill is not a perfect solution,
and it could use some a lte ra tio n .
The bottom line, however, is to get
the best package possible w ith
adequate fu n d in g fo r e ffic ie n t
ad m in is tra tio n o f the program —
and as soon as possible.
Oregonians have my commitment
to w ork to ensure that w hatever is
adopted will do the best possible job
o f meeting their needs, and in the
shortest time possible.
Congress cannot a ffo rd to
tolerate the adm inistration’s failure
to develop a re lie f plan when
A m erican s are being forced to
neglect medical care u n til a crisis
brings them to a hospital emergency
ro o m . I intend to help see th at it
docs not.
It is now illeg al in W ash in g to n ,
D .C ., for groups to deface property
with racial and religious epithets or
to display swastikas or w ear K ian
hoods in public.
The new law. signed last week by
D avid A . C la rk e , chairm an o f the
C ity C o u n c il, provides fo r the
punishment o f groups, such as the
K ian or N a zis , w hich a tte m p t to
in tim id ate people because o f their
race or religion.
Although the " A n ti-In tim id a tio n
and Defacing o f Public or Private
P ro p erty C rim in a l P en a lly Act o f
1 9 8 2 " was passed by the C ity
Council, it is subject to congression
al review because W a s h in g to n ,
D .C ., is not a state.
"B ih ind in i b l i m in t h i n
ilw iy s o th ir i b l i m m ."
C h in iti proverb
tit
P u t th e touch o n u s
for a fr e e tr ip to
H aw aii.
and Brazil.
Regardless o f their ideologies,
Latin American governments have
adopted severe austerity measures in
response. The poor end up paying
the most. Austerity spells out less
government spending in job creation
or subsidies. M oreover, unemploy
ment is the primary mechanism by
which inflation is fought. There are
between 26 and 27 million unemployed
workers south of the border today.
In
addition,
underemployment
plagues about 23 of every 100
workers.
Hence country folk, sure that
things must be better in the cities,
migrate to urban areas — including
many in the United States. Ever-
larger pools o f the unemployed are
thus concentrated in towns and
major metropolitan areas, waiting
for something to change and ready
to grab any opportunity to alter their
lot. Latin America is no longer a
region of peasants, and the patterns
which govern its mass behavior are
no longer predictable.
One certainty in this uncertain
social universe is that the life of the
poor has worsened. Today the poor
est 40 percent o f Latin America's
people, according to a U N study,
enjoy 5.4 percent o f national in
come — less than in I960 — while
the richest 10 percent has consis
tently gained in its share, from 46.6
percent in I960 to 47.3 percent in
1982.
Enforced reduction of salaries for
working people has also become a
major trend. This policy, like cur
rency devaluation, aims at reducing
consumption while improving the
competitive edge o f Latin American
products in the world market through
a decline in costs.
In sum, the region is caught in a
vicious cycle of debt-accumulation
and belt-tightening, which fuels
conflicts between repressive govern
ments and restless populations.
Observes Susan Kaufman Purcell,
director o f the Latin American
Project of the Council on Foreign
Relations, " I f the current economic
crisis continues, austerity may have
politically costly implications."
Indeed, the preconditions for
even more widespread conflict are
now present almost everywhere in
the hemisphere. For as austerity pro
grams bring on social discontent,
Latin American military dictator
ships rely ever more on an institu
tionalized violence that knows no
boundaries, and finds it victims in
every social class and institution,
including the Church.
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