FRIENDLY SOCIETIES AND DOCTORS.

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14513, 20 December 1912, Page 3

FRIENDLY SOCIETIES AND DOCTORS.

THE SOUTHLAND TROUBLE. (special to "thk fress. 1 ') INVF.HCAHGILL, December IS. When swn by a '•Southland Times" reporter, :v gontk-snaii ehieily associated with U:e management of Friondiy Societies strongly expressed the opinion that the ditiereace between tho medical profusion and the lodges was U;e result of a misunderstanding that could, and would, be cleared uy. tlo explained what had happened at tho Coalerence Deuwi-en representatives of tho friendly Societies and the medical profession. Tiie soirit of these couiereiicx'S were entirely friendly, ancf be said that lie and others were quite propan.-d to admit that the agreement witu regard to medical benelits, which had been in force for some thirty years needed revision, and he tiioujjht the Friendly Societies were quite prepared to be reasonable. He pointed out, however, that to agree to tiie proposal that an extra charge should bo made tor operations would entail an alteration of the rules of the lodges, and would not be so satisfactory to members as a tu-iinite arrangement to cover all medical attention at a lised charge. His klen was that the medical men should make some proposition for a new capiluUon. He was not prepared to any charge, maintaining that the proposal shuulu come from the medical men, whoso experience would enable them to estimate what would be fair in ail the circumstances. If 15s was too low, then possibly tiie capitation should bo 17s 6d, or ISs, or 20s, and if the medical men made some reasonable proposals, lie felt satisfied that an agreement would be arrived at. "What tho Friendly Societies dislike." he said, "Is the idea of an extra charge lor operations. The great advantage of the capitation system is that members know exactly where they ;iro in regard to expense* for medical attendance. With extra charges for operations they would not know." Hut while the idea of tho extra charge was not acceptable, lie thought tha"t tho justness of the medical men's claim to batter remuneration would be conceded, and in his opinion the needs of tho enso should be best met by coming to an agreement in regard to capitation. Tho proposal must come, of course, from tho yiedical men, who alone could estimate what addition to tho capitation would bring their emoluments from lodgo practice up to a fair thing. He hoped that both sides would take up a reasonable attitude in regard to the difSculty which had arisen, and if so, ho had no doubt that a modus vivendi would be found.

THE DOCTORS' KEPLY

Ono or tho ineuical men concorut'd, to wiiom the ertcct ot tne aoovc atatcmeut «aa mauo kiiowji, pretaccu au unawer by saving tnat it had beon stated that cuvay uoetonng was often tho most expeubivo luxury jji wii;ca poop.o could induce, aud that stateincut liny/it be applied here, 'locating the statements made seriatim, iio said lie uid not see that the next move snoiiict roiuo from tho moaio.il men, as their resignations would never have •'been sent in had it not been fior tiio last letter of the executive of' tho a nendiy Societies, in which they stated that they were unable to agree, to tho propo&ed amendments to the present agreement. In regard to .the suggestion tnat an increased capitation would meet tho requnemenfcs, ho pointed oat that tho emoluments of medical men in .Southland from lodse sources wero much less than was obtaining elsewhere. In Wangamfi the capitation rate was £1 per member, and even witlf_ that the lodge surgeons were not required to perform major operations niider anrostnetics. Although Aucklodgo members paid only 16s m capijtfti'on, thfry were charged extra for majdV ■ operations ; under anaesthetics, and in Timaru and Wellington, the same condition obtained. The difficulty about an increased capitation for Invercargill was that the lodges were not prepared to give an increaso which would bo comme.isu.ate with the conditions obtaining in the centres mentioned. At one of the conferences held it had been suggested by a Friendly Society official that tho capitation should bo increased from 15s to £1 per annum, but it was reasonably certain that such an increase would not bo granted. That tho increaso they would therefore offer would not be commensurate with tho case of Wanganui was evident from the fact that in addition to the capitation rate being higher there, at other places the surgeons had still the right to charge for major operations. The allegation that a man would not. know the amount of his medical expenses under the clause proposed by the Medical Association hardly expressed the case of a man or anyone eligible for medical benefits from a lodge who desired an operation to be performed. They could bo told definitely what such an operation would cost, and if they could not pay it, they could then have recourse to "the'public hospital. It was not unloasonable to believe that the average lodge member would fail to see the force of an increase in capitation for the sako of the man who wanted to be operated upon privately, and in. the light of that fact the proposal of the medical man must appear more fair to everybody.