The Southland Times TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 1939. The Impasse In Health Insurance

Southland Times, Issue 23795, 18 April 1939, Page 6

The Southland Times TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 1939. The Impasse In Health Insurance

IUOW that the Social Security tax is being deducted from wages and salaries a great many people will be asking, with the accents of indignation, h'ow long they must wait before the health provisions come into effect. Such questions are usually accompanied by the desire to blame somebody for the delay, and there have already been signs that the doctors are to receive more than thqir fair share of criticism. It was reported last week, for instance, that a resolution condemning the “obstinate refusal of the New Zealand branch of the British Medical Association to co-operate in implementing the Social Security Act” had been passed at a trade union meeting in Auckland. The attitude expressed at this meeting is probably fairly widespread. Actually, however, the doctors are almost as much in the dark as the general, public. They rejected the principle of a universal practitione r service after submitting alterna.-i tive proposals which were disn regarded by the Government. Th.?; ,Act was passed in spite of opposition from the medical professk in, and the people were allowed t<> believe that the health schemO would be implemented whether the doctors liked it or not. After the General Election a milder tone was adopted, and there talk of negotiations. Yet it now appears that no steps of reali importance have been taken to ; avoid the present deadlock. Fixing the Responsibility''

In an interview with The Southland Times on Friday Dr GBarfield Crawford, president of the ’Southland branch of the 8.M./A.., said that the health scheme, “p<s far as it affects the medical prof .ession is not in the interests of th e public, and is not acceptable to the profession.” He added thal; no contract had ever been offevfjd to the doctors; “they had been, asked to agree to a contract they bad never sefen.” This fact has ah ready been mentioned by other doctors, including the Dominion j president of the New Zealand brunch of the B.M.A. It is not difficult to imagine the reaction c£ the trade unionists who have been condemning the medical profession if they found themselves in a comparable position. The public should understand that if it becomes a question of fixing the responsibility for delay in implementing the health provisions ■ of the Social Security Act. there is no need to look further than the Government. The Act should never have been , passed until a reasonable agree.’ znent had been reached with th e doctors. Not only was the Act passed, however: it is now techniccilily in operation, and the people ar;e paying for services that are ncifc available, It is time the Govern: nent realized that haste and coerc’ton are poor substitutes for co-operation in building a system which is expected to serve and pr otect the public health.