Eighteen voluntary Jewish and non-Jewish organizations and 31 individual leaders in the health and welfare field today urged the Senate Finance Committee to take prompt and favorable action on the Medicare Bill. The recommendation was expressed in a joint statement of analyses and expert opinion presented at the Committee nearing by Philip Bernstein, chairman of the Committee on Social Issues and Policies, the National Social Welfare Assembly. Mr. Bernstein is also executive director of the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds.
While commending the proposed legislation as a “landmark measure” and a practical answer to the health needs of the aged, children and other persons with special needs, the statement was critical of the exclusion of anesthesia, radiology and pathology services from hospital benefits, which the welfare leaders feel “deprives elderly patients of the prepaid right to an important aspect of hospital care available to other patients.”
The statement further noted that the incorporation into our social insurance system of provisions for hospital, extended care, out-patient and home care benefits for the aged is the culmination of a long period of study. It stressed that the Bill answers vital health and welfare needs which cannot be met within the traditional insurance system, or through public assistance for the needy.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
