HOSPITAL COSTS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 8 May 1941, Page 4

HOSPITAL COSTS

HEALTH MINISTER’S SUGGESTION WELCOMED BY MR JORDAN. PAST EFFORTS TO SECURE' REFORM. Commenting on the statement reported in the Press as being made at New Plymouth by the Minister of Health (Mr Nordmeyer) to the effect that we should be able to evolve a more equitable system of rating under which the upkeep of hospitals would be a national and not a local cost, the Mayor of Masterton (Mr T. Jordan), who is also president of the Municipal Association, said: — “The Minister’s suggestion will receive a warm welcome from all ratepayers in New Zealand. The Municipal and Counties associations have for some years now been striving to evolve such a scheme, and we are definitely convinced that the only equitable system of rating for hospital expenditure is by a levy on wages and salaries. This principle has been adopted in part under the Social Security Act. Under that Act, hospital expenditure to the extent of 6s per day per patient is raised by tax on wages and salaries. When the Bill was before a Committee of the House, over which Mr Nordmeyer presided, I stated, on behalf of our association, that we believed that this was the only equitable method of raising the money and the Minister of Finance. Mr Nash, readily agreed; but to my question why it was not being completely carried out he replied that it could not all be done at once. “Since then.” said Mr Jordan, “a combined deputation from the two associations waited upon the then Minister of Health, Mr Fraser, and again stressed the present injustice and put forward the remedy now suggested. The official reply was that the Gov r ernment was not prepared to give effect to it, but no reasons were given. At that time an additional charge of slightly more than Id in the £ in the Social Security levy would have taken the load off the ratepayers. Mr Nordmeyer’s statement will encourage us to go on with our efforts.

“It may be of interest to the public to know that the Government subsidy to hospital boards is based on an extraordinarily complicated method of computation under which the amount paid to the boards varies from 14s in the £ in some districts to 26s in others. This should be borne in mind when comparisons are being made between the financial position of the boards in various districts.

“On the question of national or local cost of hospitals,” Mi- Jordan added, “it will also be of interest to the public to know that the Government War Expenses Fund has not yet. undertaken the total responsibility for sick and wounded soldiers in hospital. We have urged the justice of this, but so far the Government is paying in the official language ’something further than the 6s per day per patient’ cut of the Social Security Fund. Li my district this ‘something’ in .'ls per day, whereas the Secretary-Manager of the Hospital Board states that the amount should be 14s per day if the full cost is to be met. The remaining 9s per day per soldier is at present a charge on the ratepayers. This is obviously unjust."