Monday, September 23, 1957
MEDFORD (OREGON) MAIL TRIBUNE SEVEN
Growth of Health Insurance Business One Of Fastest, Three Out of Four Now Covered
Editor's notr: Follow in? i ihr first
in a series of articles on hea'th
insurance.
By JACK V. FOX
United Press Correspondent
New York ''IP Do you have
some sort of health insurance?
Are you reasonably satisfied
with it? Do you know what it
costs and what it covers? If you
had a really rough medical bill,
would you be protected?
Would you be willing to pay
higher premiums if you could
get more medical coverage?
Would you invest in a policy
paying most bills up to 510,000?
Do you think doctor visits to
the home should be insurable?
What abojt regular physical
checkups?
Do you set aside part of your
income for medical expenses?
Are the older people in your
family insured against sickness'
Do you think payments for, say
an appendectomy or childbirth,
under present plans are ade
quate? Those are some of the ques
tions that are causing a great
deal of controversy today in the
insurance business, the medical
profession, the government and
among the public.
118 Million Covered
There are about 118 million
of us today with some sort of
medical insurance about three
out of every four Americans.
The growth of health insur
ance is one of the most spectac
ular developments on the social
scene since the war. In 1940,
only 3 million Americans had
i.uch insurance. Today there are
1,200 companies writing such
policies and the competition is
fierce.
Payments to persons with in
surance for hospital, doctor and
other medical bills last year
amounted to a whopping S3,
600.000,000. Eut it must be re
membered that the nation's total
medical bill for the year was
more than S10 billion.
The biggest surge in health
insurance recently has been in
"catastrophic" or major medical
Veieran Convicled
On Spying Charge
Shreveport, La. HP A
decorated Air Force veteran of
two wars was convicted at a
super secret court martial of
trying to sell American atomic
secrets to Russia and sentenced
to life imprisonment, the Air
Force disclosed Saturday.
Barksdale Air Force Base said
Capt. George H. French, 36, of
Mount Vernon, N.Y., was con
victed by a seven-man court
martial Friday.
The disclosure of the trial
emphasized that French appar
ently "at no time actually made
contact with a representative of
the Soviet Union."
The Air Force said the espion
age attempt occurred in Wash
ington and New York last April
while French was on leave from
his post, Ramey Air Force Base
in Puerto Rico.
An Air Force spokesman said
in Washington that French
"tried to deliver a letter per
sonally to the Soviet Embassy"
there the night of April 5.
The letter, apparently drop
ped or deposited on the Embassy
property by French, likely was
picked up by an alert counter
spy or policeman.
All You Need to Remember
For The Best
Meats in Town
Guaranteed
To Please You!
Shop Safeway and
:ave On Smoked, Sugar-Cured
ACON
Guaranteed by Safeway. A favorite
for breakfast
MfL-l U.U
t iiuic ur iidii rw f3S
8 to 10 lbs. ILk vJjC
Per Lb. O
round
Beef
Tender, lean chunks of 100
pure beef ... ground fresh
lb
MANOR HOUSE Frozen Beef Chicken Turkey
Meat Pies
8-oz. pies
27
Tender, Smoked and Boneless Hi to 3 lbs. ea.
Coiiaoe Butts 79'
Sugar Cured, Standard Layer Pack
Siicsd Bacon
lb.
69
P-;res in this advertisement are effective through
V' dnesday, September 25th at Safeway in Medford.
' "a reserve the right to limit. Every item Safeway sells
is guara nteed 100.
coverage. It is a type that does
not '"pay by the stitch,' but
av. ards a lump cash sum to the;
policyholder up to a big amount
usually not more than S10,
000. It is fairly expensive.
There are now about 10 mil
lion persons with such insur
ance. Many of them have it in
addition to '"basic" coverage for
less serious illness.
Blue Cross Pioneered
The Blue Cross and Blue
Shield organization pioneered
mass medical insurance in the
United States, starting with a
plan at Baylor university in
1929.
By last year, Elue Cross (hos
pitalization) and Blue Shield
(surgery and doctor) had grown
to some 51 million members for
the former and 38 million for
the latter. There are 85 separate
Blue Cross corporations in the
United States, Canada and Puer-
Halifax, Nova Scotia OP The
supreme allied commander of
the NATO Forces has arrived
in Halifax for a brief visit to
the Royal Canadian Navy's At
lantic fleet headquarters and the
headquarters of the RCAF
Maritime Air command. Admiral
Jerald Wright will discuss the
current maneuvers in the North
Atlantic with Commander Rear
Admiral Hugh Pullen and Air
Commodre Martin Costello.
Jet Planes Collide,
Pilots Suffer Shock
Sacramento IP Two Air
Force Shooting Star jets col
lided upon landing at McClellan
Air Force Base near here Friday
night but both pilots escaped
death or serious injury.
First Lts. William Berry Jr.
and Richard Ives, who were ar
riving on a flight from Madison,
Wis., were suffering from shock
and base officials said they may
not be able to explain the freak
mishap for several days.
The pilot jumped out and ran
to safety just before the F80s
burst into flames after colliding.
One plane was completely des
troyed, the other suffered only
damage to the nose.
Cyclones north of the equator
soin counterclockwise. South of
the equator the twist is clockwise.
to Rico. Blue Cross-Blue Shield
represents about 41 per cent of
all medical insurance written.
Blue Cross contracts provide
a set daily amount for hospital
board and room over a fixed
period, plus certain other hospi
tal expenses. Blue Shield has a
schedule of surgical payments
and some other doctors' ex
penses performed in hospital.
Both plans are now offering
broadened versions to cover
medical expenses.
Coverage Varies
Individual insurance compan
ies in total recently have sur
passed Blue Cross-Blue Shield
in volume of business. They now
insure 51.7 per cent.
Their poliices are of great
range, but in general they differ
in that the policyholder usually
receives a cash award within
certain limitations rather than
having a predetermined sched
ule of what is payable.
The third major type insurer
is typified by the Health Insur
ance Plan of New York whose
main distinction is that it is
formed by doctors themselves.
The policy-holder must accept
the services of one of the mem
ber doctors. Others of this type.
are Group Health Insurance of
Washington. Kaiser Permanente
&nd the Ross-Loos Clinic in Cal
ifornia. The government, of course,
provides a type of health insur
ance through the Veterans Ad
ministration whose services are
available to the 21 million vet
erans now living. There are also
a few labor union insurance as
sociations. No Endorsements From AMA
The American Medical Asso
ciation has not endorsed any
plan. It took an opinion sam
pling of 8,000 physicians . on
health insurance in 1954. The
majority gave the opinion that
insurance should cover "a sub
stantial poriton but less than the
full cost" of medical and surgi
cal care.
The majority also said that
most benefit schedules fell be
low the normal charges of phy
sicians, There are about 180,000
practicing physicians in the
United States. A 4955 survey by
Medical Economics showed their
average net income to be: gen
eral practitioners $14,814; spe
cialists $18,000.
Most observers say the Amer
ican system has its strengths,
BUSY BAKER
CAMPBELL'S
Here is the crispiest cracker you ever tasted the
extra shortening is what does it. In the convenient
stay-fresh packets for extra freshness.
Here's a real combination that's always a hit.
Rich, creamy Campbell Tomato Soup, served with
crispy Busy Baker Soda Crackers.
Reg. 29c
1-lb. pkg.
Reg.
3 for 35c
Foods
Look at this savings
favorite whole egg
Reg. 73c.
on
America'
mayonnaise.
Mavonna
M
Salad Oil
Reg. 69c. Another grand Safeway
I C value on Nu Made Brand. Creamy,
delicate flavored.
Nu Made Brand. The finest quality for
salad and cooking. It's famous for its
neutral flavor. Reg. 54c.
Full
Quart
Full
Quart
59"
55'
Full
Quart i
49'
Milk
Fresh Bread
3.8
Lucerne, the rich "Bonus Quality" mlik is
sold exclusively at Safeway. Regular or
Homogenized.
Save 2c on each loaf. Mrs.
Wright's enriched white or
whole wheat.
Half
Gal.
Large
Loaf
47'
29'
Always Fresh and Crisp
Hydrox Cookies UZ 39
Triscuit Brand
Wafers
93,i-oz. pkg.
43
Uncle Ben's Brand Quality
White Rice
28-oz. pkg.
49c
Lipton Tea
Delicious
Hot or Cold
X'43'-
Lipton Tea
Orange Pekoe
Tea Bags
48's
Dog Food
350
Dash Brand
Pet's Favorite
Per
Can
Chocolate
47
Borden's New
Instant Dutch
16-oz.
pkg.
Shop Safeway for Famous
KRAFT Brand Products
American Cheese
Pasteurized Cheese
Spready. Easy to slice
pVg!' $li!5
Old English Cheese
2-11
Pkg
Sharp Cheddar, sharp
full flavor
2-lb. Of Oft
Sliced Old English
A Tasty Treat with
Salads.
J 43c
Smooth spreading 1-lb. 4
Kraft Parkay
Margarine pkg.
French Dressing
t type dressing. - jar
t
French Dressing
8-oz. on
Kraft Casino. A sweet
type French dressing. jar
8-oz. OO
French Dressing
Mild and Zesty Flavor- 8-oz.
ed. Nu Made dressing jar
Salad Mustard
25c
Mild and
zesty flavored.
'S.llB
Cream Cheese
Philadelphia
Pasteurized
233c
Save During lc Sale on
Wrisley Soap brb" 64
Choc. Chip. Apple Chip, Lemon Flake
Cake Mixes Swansdown
Perk Brand - For Your Pet
Horse Meat Can 25tf
Lux Soap
Reg. 4) Afld
Toilet Soap
Pastel colors
bars
All Vegetable
Shortening
Spry
!e 3-lb.
E 99
Pablum
Mixed
Cereal
1-lb,
pkg.
All
For Your
Dishwashers
20-oz.
pkg.
43
49
also its weaknesses and inequi
ties. But the insurance com
panies point out this is a very
complicated field.
Said one:
"While a life insurance pol
icy requires a death to start a
claim, a hospital-medical policy
requires only the policy and
few aches and pains."
777 LU
i
i
t
i
IresVnoet
i
i
t
once
J) for u y
lower
lb. V
Crisp. Snowy White Heads of Select
Caulif
Firm, solid heads of the finest
"garden-fresh" cauliflower. . Enjoy
it with your dinner tonight.
California Marsh White Seedless '
Grapefruit 549
Delicious Sun-Ripened Hawaiian
Pineapple ea. 39'
Jonathan Apples
4 C 49'
Lb.
10
Jonathan Apples
4Lb.49 l'r:SL98
Delicious Apples
lb, T
Extra
fancy
1