I

The development, the ever-increasing development, and expansion of the art and the science of medicine, and the improvement of the public health is the prime purpose of the American Medical Association. This we have done in the past. This we shall continue to do in the future.

In supporting the Mills-Kerr bill we are supporting it because we think it is sound in principle. It is designed to take care of the needy sick. It is designed to take care of those people who need assistance. The great masses of the American people who were reared and educated in American culture of freedom, of responsibility, and personal initiative, know that with the opportunities of living in this great land of ours also go responsibilities of raising our children, and the responsbility of taking care of themselves, providing for their own future, and providing according to the fourth commandment for their parents if they are in need. We think it is sound. We think it is essential. We think it will contribute to the greatness which is America.

Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I appreciate the opportunity for expressing some personal views here as a member of the American Medical Association. Dr. Larson and I, Dr. Howard, and Mr. Stetler will be happy to answer any questions which you may have to ask. (Statements referred to earlier, follow :)

STATEMENT OF

AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION

BEFORE

WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ON

H.R. 4222, 87TH CONGRESS

AUGUST 2, 1961

SECTION I

DESCRIPTION OF AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION

AND ITS POSITION ON H. R. 4222, 87TH CONGRESS

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

I am Dr. Leonard W. Larson, President of the American Medical Association on whose behalf I am appearing today to present the views of the medical profession with respect to H.R. 4222, 87th Congress. Accompanying me are Dr. Edward R. Annis, who will also present a statement on behalf of the Association; Dr. Ernest B. Howard, Assistant Executive Vice President of the AMA; and Mr. C. Joseph Stetler, Director of the Association's Legal and Socio-Economic Division.

The AMA is a non-profit, professional, public service institution to which more than 180,000 physicians belong. Its membership constitutes 70.2 per cent of the total physician population of the United States.

The Association has two principle goals, clearly set forth in its constitution. One is to promote the science and art of medicine; and the other is to work for the betterment of public health.

These goals are the policy guideposts followed by our House of Delegates, which meets twice a year, and by our Board of Trustees, the members of which are elected by the House of Delegates and serve as the Association's interim governing body.

The AMA is responsive to its membership. Voting delegates are chosen by the state medical associations on the basis of one for each 1,000 physician members within the state. These representatives comprise our House of Delegates, along with twenty others elected by the AMA's Scientific Assembly, and five delegates chosen by the Surgeons-General of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Public Health Service, and the Chief Medical Officer of the Veterans Administration.

On their be

As official spokesman for the Association, I therefore speak for the overwhelming majority of physicians within this country. half, let me thank the Committee for this opportunity of expressing our viewpoint and presenting our reasons for feeling as we do.

We vigorously oppose H. R. 4222, 87th Congress, the measure now under consideration by this Committee, and any similar legislation which proposes the use of Title II of the Social Security Act as a mechanism for financing a Federal program of health care for the aged.

We reject this legislation because it would enable the Federal Government to levy a compulsory tax on working people covered by the Social Security Act, and to use these funds to pay the providers of medical and ancillary services for care rendered to all elderly persons eligible for