PUBLIC HEALTH PLAN

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 178, 14 August 1937, Page 14

PUBLIC HEALTH PLAN

1 Insurance Scheme Approved K in British Columbia , By a plebiscite taken at the time of the recent provincial election the people of British 'Golumbia approved qf a comprehensive scheme of state health insurance and authorised ihe Government to work out dehails and put the under-. taking into effect. 1 It is expected the scheme will follow closely the lines of the Aot designed and. submitted to the Legislature by Hofl. G. M. Weir, Minister of Health, iax 193G. That measure wa# passed but witlidrawn in the face of opposition whieh was not substantiated by the popular vote. Dr Weir's Act was somewhat limited in its scope. It extended to only one third of the population. It was proposed to grant niedical and hospital services to wage earnets with iftcomes of 1800 dollars or less. There are approximately 100,0000 workers in that wage classification. The funds necessary to carry on the system were to be obtained by taking 2 per cent of the worker's wage with employers qontributing another orie per cent. The ilisnred were guaranteed for themselves and their dependants medical care, hospitalisation and, when necessary, the services of specialists and consultants, X-ray and other diagnostio aids. Maternity services were included. TJnder the plan, each doctor was aliowed a flat yearly fee of 5.50 dollars for each person, employee or dependent, on his list whether they required medical caro or not. The doctors insisted the fee was so low that it would lower tho standards of medical service. They conteaided the flat yearly fee should be at the very least 7.50 dollars per perj son. A second criticism they levelled at the measure was that it made no provision whatever for the very poor and th© unemployed.