Archive Report
Archive Report
Controversy over the administration proposal to finance certain medical services to the aged under the social security system presents a new phase in the country's continuing effort to adjust to striking changes in the practice of medicine. In the United States, the present medical order is characterized by protective and curative procedures vastly more effective—but far more costly—than those used at any time in the past, and by unprecedented public demand for enjoyment of their benefits. Traditional ways of rendering medical services have been greatly modified by the simultaneous development of new medical techniques and of insurance plans to give protection against the often heavy costs of illness.
Over the years, the earlier opposition to prepayment for medical care has virtually disappeared; the prepayment principle ...