COSTLY CHANGES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23082, 6 July 1938, Page 15

COSTLY CHANGES

HEALTH AND PENSIONS DEFECTS IN THE SCHEME HEAVY TAXATION PREDICTED [by telegraph—special rftorter] ELLIN&TON, Tuesday The health and superannuation scheme proposed by the Government is not a business proposition and can never be a business proposition," said Mr. W. A. Bodkin (Opposition—Central Otago), speaking in the Address-ln-Keply debate in the House of Representatives to-day. "In scrapping the health service wo have for tho one that is proposed," he added, "wo will not have a better one, but wo will certainly have a much more expensive one." Mr. Bodkin said that Dr. ]). G- McMillan (Government— Dunedin \\est), in his opening speech in the debate had made an excellent presentation of the case for the Government, but there was a marked difference between the presentation of a case and the case itself. It should not be assumed that a scheme was good just because it was new. Medical Support Essential "I was disappointed that Dr. McMillan did not analyse the position as it exists to-day," Mr. Bodkin continued. Instead of that he devoted almost the whole of his speech to what is undoubtedly to him a pet scheme. suggest to him and to the Government that it is not possible to make a success of the proposals unless it can get 100 per cent support and cooperation from the doctors respecting the preventive side of medicine. "It has been pointed out by the New Zealand branch of tho British Medical Association that national health insurance does not necessarily mean that there will bo less sickness in the future as tho benefit of the insurance in the main comes only to tho individual after he has been ill. I suggest that Dr. McMillan is actuated more by the desirability of bringing about complete socialisation in Zealand than in improving the present health service." Financing the Scheme Dealing with the financing of the scheme, Mr. Bodkin said the wages contribution of l s in the pound would not bring in half the money that would be needed ior the administration of the Government's ill-considered and hasty proposals and no member of the Government had said where the rest of tho money would bo procured. Then there was the question of what would happen to all those now dependent on the Employment Fund, when the 8d in the pound now collected for unemployment was diverted to the social security fund. Mr. Bodkin said that before long at least 2s or 3s in the pound would be required from other taxation to carry out the Government's proposals. The original annual cost had neon estimated to be between £17.000.000 and £18,000.000, but since that time the Prime Minister, Mr. Savage, had announced substantial increases in benefits although nothing had been said about the .cost. The public was entitled to more consideration and more frankness than it had received from the Government.