- Email: [email protected]
News Items of Interest
1706
The Journal of the American Dental Association and The Dental Cosmos
T h a t is, 2,750 persons have gainful occupation in dental offices in the area o f the Second District Dental Society o f N ew York. CO N N EC TICU T
There are approximately forty-eight clinics operating in Connecticut at the present time. These clinics function for both children and adults. T he total num ber o f visits made by children last year to these clinics was 114,168. T h e number o f visits made by adults was 31,361. T h e clinics are governed b y m any types of agencies and financed from various sources. T h ey employ 154 dentists and forty-five hygienists. Twenty-three are directed by dentists, four by physicians, three by health officers, two by regis tered nurses and fifteen by lay persons. T h e forty-eight clinics have a total of ninety dental chairs. Twenty-nine make no charge for their services and nineteen make a minimum charge. The types of service rendered are largely diagnosis, prophylaxis, local anesthesia, extraction,
relief o f pain and amalgam and synthetic fillings. Three clinics offer denture serv ice. T en offer oral surgery, two crown and bridge work and two orthodontia. GEORGIA
T h e 1937-1938 survey conducted by the Georgia State Board of Health in co operation with the state dental society shows that 33J per cent o f Georgia school children had been to the dentist within the past year. During the school year of 1937-1938, 215,000 children in 1,018 schools in 128 of 159 counties were examined by mem bers of the state dental society. T h e sur vey revealed th a t: 57 per cent o f the children had visited a dentist one or more times during their lifetime. 37 per cent had been to the dentist within the last year. 88 per cent owned toothbrushes. 69.8 per cent had cavities, an average o f four per child.
NEWS ITEMS OF INTEREST NEW YORK STATE CON STITUTION AL CON VEN TION ACCEPTS HEALTH INSURANCE A f t e r bitter debate on Thursday night the Constitutional Convention now being held in the State of New York to revise the state constitution accepted an amendment, which, if the proposed constitution is adopted by the voters, will permit a legislature to establish a system of health insurance. The amend ment was adopted by a vote of 84 to 66. This grant of power was then incorporated in a proposed social welfare article to the new state constitution. The convention had previously rejected the proposal for health insurance by a vote of 61 to 60. But Thursday night, with prac tically full attendance from the Democratic
delegates, the word “ sickness” was placed back in the article. The article reads in part that the legislature might provide for “ the protection by insurance or otherwise against the hazards of unemployment, sickness and old age.” O f the 84 voting for health insurance, 59 were democrats and 25 were republicans, and of the 66 voting against the proposal, 62 were republicans and 4 democrats.— Associa tion of Medical Cooperatives News Release, August 23, 1938. TH E HOUSEWIFE VIEWS HEALTH CARE T h e women of America went on record in favor of group health insurance in a national survey on “ What the Women of America
Dental Economics Think About Medicine” just published in a national magazine. Sixty-six per cent would, if given the op portunity, support some plan whereby for about $3.00 a month, a medical association would provide all necessary doctor and hos pital service for themselves and their fam ilies. A majority of the women also believe the government should provide free medical care for people with limited incomes and meet the cost from taxes, that free medical care should be given to school children and that the state should provide maternity care for mothers who cannot themselves pay for it. Fifty-two per cent of the women said that doctors’ bills were too high. There was a disparity here, however, between the income groups, a majority of these with incomes under $1,500 a year, 61 per cent believing that doctors charge too much, while only 41 per cent of the women in the over $1,500 a year income group thought so. While a majority of the women believed doctors’ bills to be excessive, they said these charges had not kept them from medical care which had been necessary for them or their children.— Duluth (Minn.) Tribune, August 14, 1938. MICHIGAN HEALTH CONFERENCE L a n s i n g will be the scene September 10 of a state-wide health conference to “muster support behind a federal health program.” Governor Murphy pointed out that Mich igan may be selected by the federal govern ment as the starting point of a new health program and that health officials at Wash ington had communicated with him fre quently regarding new developments in the state program. Surgeon General Thomas Parran, head of the federal health service, may be a speaker at the conference, it was indicated. Medical profession representatives, as well as representatives of labor groups, farmers and other organizations will be invited to participate in the conference, according to the governor. “The conference,” said the governor, “ will
approach its deliberations from the point of view of the person who needs medical atten tion or treatment. Group health insurance, group medicine and area clinics will be among the subjects discussed. The goal is to make possible the best medical attention both to the indigent and to persons of moderate means.— Lansing Journal, August 16, 1938. CLEVELAND MEDICAL INSURANCE PLAN D i r e c t o r s of Cleveland’s Academy of Medicine stepped into the middle of the “socialized medicine” discussion today with a plan through which employed persons could pay $7 to $9 a year to insure themselves against a maximum of $126 in doctors’ bills incurred in the course of hospitalization. The plan, designed solely to cover serious diagnoses, accidents or illnesses, would benefit only those patients sent to hospitals. It also would be restricted to members of the Cleve land Hospital Service Association. This or ganization, the academy said, “now has more than 100,000 subscribers to whom 21 days of hospital service is furnished in any one year for a prepayment of $7.20 to $9 annually” under a program described as “ ethical, actuarially and socially sound.” The academy’s proposal would provide, for matching fees, similar medical service benefits— payment at $6 a day for a maxi mum of 21 days. Total fees thus would run around $15 to $18 a year, and potential bene fits $252. Hospital Service Association serves princi pally persons with incomes from $1,000 to $2,600 a year, those upon whom it considers the burdens of illness fall heaviest. For addi tional fees a member may obtain benefits for his family— even including obstetrical care after the one year’s membership. The academy is affiliated with the Ameri can Medical Association, which has opposed some health service plans on the ground that nothing should be allowed to come between a physician’s personal dealings with an in dividual patient.— Indianapolis, Ind. Star, September 10, 1938.
The Journal of the American Dental Association and The Dental Cosmos
T h a t is, 2,750 persons have gainful occupation in dental offices in the area o f the Second District Dental Society o f N ew York. CO N N EC TICU T
There are approximately forty-eight clinics operating in Connecticut at the present time. These clinics function for both children and adults. T he total num ber o f visits made by children last year to these clinics was 114,168. T h e number o f visits made by adults was 31,361. T h e clinics are governed b y m any types of agencies and financed from various sources. T h ey employ 154 dentists and forty-five hygienists. Twenty-three are directed by dentists, four by physicians, three by health officers, two by regis tered nurses and fifteen by lay persons. T h e forty-eight clinics have a total of ninety dental chairs. Twenty-nine make no charge for their services and nineteen make a minimum charge. The types of service rendered are largely diagnosis, prophylaxis, local anesthesia, extraction,
relief o f pain and amalgam and synthetic fillings. Three clinics offer denture serv ice. T en offer oral surgery, two crown and bridge work and two orthodontia. GEORGIA
T h e 1937-1938 survey conducted by the Georgia State Board of Health in co operation with the state dental society shows that 33J per cent o f Georgia school children had been to the dentist within the past year. During the school year of 1937-1938, 215,000 children in 1,018 schools in 128 of 159 counties were examined by mem bers of the state dental society. T h e sur vey revealed th a t: 57 per cent o f the children had visited a dentist one or more times during their lifetime. 37 per cent had been to the dentist within the last year. 88 per cent owned toothbrushes. 69.8 per cent had cavities, an average o f four per child.
NEWS ITEMS OF INTEREST NEW YORK STATE CON STITUTION AL CON VEN TION ACCEPTS HEALTH INSURANCE A f t e r bitter debate on Thursday night the Constitutional Convention now being held in the State of New York to revise the state constitution accepted an amendment, which, if the proposed constitution is adopted by the voters, will permit a legislature to establish a system of health insurance. The amend ment was adopted by a vote of 84 to 66. This grant of power was then incorporated in a proposed social welfare article to the new state constitution. The convention had previously rejected the proposal for health insurance by a vote of 61 to 60. But Thursday night, with prac tically full attendance from the Democratic
delegates, the word “ sickness” was placed back in the article. The article reads in part that the legislature might provide for “ the protection by insurance or otherwise against the hazards of unemployment, sickness and old age.” O f the 84 voting for health insurance, 59 were democrats and 25 were republicans, and of the 66 voting against the proposal, 62 were republicans and 4 democrats.— Associa tion of Medical Cooperatives News Release, August 23, 1938. TH E HOUSEWIFE VIEWS HEALTH CARE T h e women of America went on record in favor of group health insurance in a national survey on “ What the Women of America
Dental Economics Think About Medicine” just published in a national magazine. Sixty-six per cent would, if given the op portunity, support some plan whereby for about $3.00 a month, a medical association would provide all necessary doctor and hos pital service for themselves and their fam ilies. A majority of the women also believe the government should provide free medical care for people with limited incomes and meet the cost from taxes, that free medical care should be given to school children and that the state should provide maternity care for mothers who cannot themselves pay for it. Fifty-two per cent of the women said that doctors’ bills were too high. There was a disparity here, however, between the income groups, a majority of these with incomes under $1,500 a year, 61 per cent believing that doctors charge too much, while only 41 per cent of the women in the over $1,500 a year income group thought so. While a majority of the women believed doctors’ bills to be excessive, they said these charges had not kept them from medical care which had been necessary for them or their children.— Duluth (Minn.) Tribune, August 14, 1938. MICHIGAN HEALTH CONFERENCE L a n s i n g will be the scene September 10 of a state-wide health conference to “muster support behind a federal health program.” Governor Murphy pointed out that Mich igan may be selected by the federal govern ment as the starting point of a new health program and that health officials at Wash ington had communicated with him fre quently regarding new developments in the state program. Surgeon General Thomas Parran, head of the federal health service, may be a speaker at the conference, it was indicated. Medical profession representatives, as well as representatives of labor groups, farmers and other organizations will be invited to participate in the conference, according to the governor. “The conference,” said the governor, “ will
approach its deliberations from the point of view of the person who needs medical atten tion or treatment. Group health insurance, group medicine and area clinics will be among the subjects discussed. The goal is to make possible the best medical attention both to the indigent and to persons of moderate means.— Lansing Journal, August 16, 1938. CLEVELAND MEDICAL INSURANCE PLAN D i r e c t o r s of Cleveland’s Academy of Medicine stepped into the middle of the “socialized medicine” discussion today with a plan through which employed persons could pay $7 to $9 a year to insure themselves against a maximum of $126 in doctors’ bills incurred in the course of hospitalization. The plan, designed solely to cover serious diagnoses, accidents or illnesses, would benefit only those patients sent to hospitals. It also would be restricted to members of the Cleve land Hospital Service Association. This or ganization, the academy said, “now has more than 100,000 subscribers to whom 21 days of hospital service is furnished in any one year for a prepayment of $7.20 to $9 annually” under a program described as “ ethical, actuarially and socially sound.” The academy’s proposal would provide, for matching fees, similar medical service benefits— payment at $6 a day for a maxi mum of 21 days. Total fees thus would run around $15 to $18 a year, and potential bene fits $252. Hospital Service Association serves princi pally persons with incomes from $1,000 to $2,600 a year, those upon whom it considers the burdens of illness fall heaviest. For addi tional fees a member may obtain benefits for his family— even including obstetrical care after the one year’s membership. The academy is affiliated with the Ameri can Medical Association, which has opposed some health service plans on the ground that nothing should be allowed to come between a physician’s personal dealings with an in dividual patient.— Indianapolis, Ind. Star, September 10, 1938.