MEDICAL BENEFITS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXIII, 7 December 1940, Page 2

MEDICAL BENEFITS

MEASURE PASSED TO OPERATE EARLY IN NEW YEAR o )t ; VOLUNTARY CONTRACT SYSTEM ° I [From Our Own Parliamentary Reporter] '! | WELLINGTON, This Day. ) j With little further discussion the Finance Bill No. 4 containing a clause inaugurating a general practitioner service under the Social b Security Act, was passed in the House of Representatives yesterday afternoon, n n CO-OPERATIVE CLINICS ADVOCATED :s a The establishment in each New Zea e land city of a clinic where doctor: e could work co-operatively was advo n i cated by Mr Lee (Democratic Labour n Grey Lynn ). He said that already _ 1 some doctors were writing and think ■ hTg along the lines he proposed. ■. j “If the doctors maintain a unitec s I front, what then?” Mr Lee asked. I _ would be agreed that doctors going or , war service and those remaining e hind were giving a good account oi a themselves, but it was necessary tc e examine the position as to what woulc -1 happen if the doctor’s united from r could not be broken down. Mr Lee recalled that an old recipe for jugged hare contained the advice q “first catch your hare.” The Ministei r of Health and the Government were e out to catch the hare, and he bet lievecl that it would take some catching. 1 "We are all going to turn into doca for stalkers.” he added. "I hope we “ are going to be successful. I know that if one or two doctors in any large [ centre desire to apply the provisions |of this measure, the others will have a to come in very rapidly. I think thal “ if the Prime Minister will consider j. seriously the action contemplated when he said that it might be neces- ? sary to establish the basis of a State a medical system, then we will very ' rapidly catch the hare. T think there ' is something to be said for the establishment of a clinic in each city where ' the doctors will work co-operatively.” l OVER THE HEADS OF THE B.M.A. ' Holding that the section of the medical profession which would stand out j against the tree general practitioner service would be very small, the Min--1 ister of Marine, Dr McMillan, said that ! obviously the proposal in the Bill went j over the heads of the British Medical 1 Association. It gave the individual 7 members of the association an opporr tunity to work the scheme, and the j tactics would be just as successful as were similar tactics in connection with j the maternity benefit. 5 The Minister said the Leader of the Opposition in his speech had chided t the Government with not carrying out its pledges under the Social Security j Act and had then implored it not to j carry them out. The people had voted j overwhelmingly for the Bill at the last t election and it would be wrong if a ; gyoup within an organisation could dictate to the Government, s If was obvious that all the benefits j °f fhe big scheme could not be in- _ i troduced from the beginning and before I long the Leader of the Opposition would have no complaints to make „ about the non-introduction of free outpatients’ treatment. When the pracj titioner scheme began the people would £ So to their family doctors and surgical jand outpatients’ depart., .ents would i not be so necessary. } ; The war was a reason why the ( ! scheme should be introduced, for thou- : sands of soldiers were overseas and j fhe worries of their wives should not :be increased by illness among their children. Though the Opposition felt , | that it was obliged to talk, the doctors having contributed very largely to the , party funds at the last election, it ; would remember its duty to the people and vote for the scheme. Answering an interjection, Dr McMillan said that X-ray and medical appliances provisions would be introduced in the very near future. “UNIVERSAL IN FEW MONTHS” "I am quite satisfied in my own mind , that the scheme will be universal in a few months,” the Minister said, j “There are still a very few die-hard | practitioners who look upon the prac- ! tice of medicine as a means of making : money. The bulk of the practitioners i look upon it as a means of serving j their fellows. The scheme will make J the doctors’ lives happier. They will ? !not have to chase people for money. ; They will not have to consider the ' financial side and it will give them the i opportunity to devote all their time j to the job.” Remedial treatment was necessary and alone justified the introduction of the scheme. The average person could not budget against medical expenses because they were unpredictable in time and amount. The only method of dealing with , the risk was by insurance. There was abundant proof that the standard of | medical practice in England had gone 1 u. since the health insurance scheme was begun. Maternity and hospital benefits were operating in New Zealand and no doctf r was going to say he was giving shoddy work because the treatment was free. It was an insult to the medical profession to say there would be a lower standard of medical service because it was to be free. LACK OF STABILISATION "The Government should tackle the the job of stabilisation and give effect to the findings of the recent Stabilisation Conference which it hailed with such enthusiasm,” said Mr Poison- (Opposition, Stratford). The conference, he added, had recommended the stabilisatio of wages, prices and costs, but the Government had given no evidence ci its intention to adopt this course. "I have always been in full sympathy with progressive legislation so far as it is possible to go in this country,” I said Mr Poison. Everything in the 1 Bill, however, meant an increase in costs. The decisions of the Economic | Stabilisation Conference were apparently to be ignored. After fix weeks’ I work the conference. which repre- I sented all sections of industry, both employers and employees, had come to the unanimous conclusion that this country had to get back to the capitalist plan. Members of the conference had ob--1 tained evidence of the inflationary tenj dencies of the Government’s policy. I They said the people had to save and igo on saving, that being the very anti- ! thesis of the policy on which the Gov- ! ernment got into power. | “The proposals in this Bill ignore the stabilisation plan which the Government had put before it by the conference,” said Mr Poison. “The Government has flouted the recommendations of the conference. The findings of the conference were sound, but there is no evidence of them being put into operation. We had hopes that this conference, as a result of its findings, would have been able to steer the Government along a steadier path.” The Rev. A. H. Nordmeyer (Gov- : ernment, Oamaru) said the Opposition had opposed the scheme on the grounds that the money could not : be found. Now the Leader of the ; Opposition was asking for services that < would extend the scheme. The Opposition should remember that if they i

wanted more benefits they would have to have more taxation. The suggestion had been made that the Government was not in earnest ( about medical benefits. The Government and the Government party were determined that the people of New Zealand should receive the benefits early in the New Year. The Minister of Finance, in a brief reply, gave an assurance that the doctors serving overseas would have their civil interests safeguarded. 1 The Bill was put through the com- ! mittee stages and passed. j r