Doctor brands medicare bill as 'cruel hoax': Miami Physician Assails Insurance Plan

              The administration - supported King-Anderson bill was branded "a. cruel hoax" here Monday by a Miami physician.
Dr. Edward R. Annis said the bill, recently introduced in Congress, "takes care of many people who don't need it, yet neglects to care for many who need it most." "The bill calls for compulsory health  insurance  for  everyone over 65, who is eligible for social   security,"   explained   the physician, a featured speaker at the meeting of the 81st annual convention    of   the   Louisiana State Medical Society. Dr. Annis said provisions of the King-Anderson bill would place a burden on older persons of limited means   but   would   prove   a bonanza to the well-to-do.
NOT TRUE EXTENSION A more or less unofficial spokesman for tie doctors of America, the physician said those covered by the bill would include 1,000,000 persons, over 65, who are still working and in some cases are head of their own businesses or executives of corporations.
"It would also include over 8,000,000 persons over 65 who to-
day pay for their own private health insurance," added the physician, who recently appeared in television debates on medical care of the aged with Sen, Hubert Humphrey and labor leader Walter Reuther.
Dr. Annis said, "Unfortunately the bill does not include approximately 4,000,000 persons, over 65, who do not receive social security and among whom are our most needy."
"The King-Anderson bill is not; a true extension of social security," added the physician. "A true extension of social security would give our senior citizens more dollars with which to pay their med-
Dr. Annis said the bill is an entirely new program which uses the social security system as a means of raising money for its financing. He said the bill would provide   at   compulsory   taxpayer's expense  a limited  type  of j medical care in hospitals operat-jing under contract with the feder-
al government, under regulations dictated from Washington.;
'The bill provides for a $10 a day deductible for the first nine! days in the hospital," added the! physician, who is chairman of the legislative committee of the Florida   State   Medical   Association. "This   might   prove   difficult for   someone   already   strained financially.    But the well-to-do
would just drop their health insurance, pay the first $90 then let the taxpayers pay the rest."
Dr. Annis, the father of, eight children, said, "We believe people should be encouraged to help themselves and only the needy sick should  be aided.''
He said for people who are unable to provide for their own health ne£ds the medical profession supports the Kerr-Mills bill passed at a recent session of Congress.
"This bill is sound in principle and is based on a determination of a person's medical needs by his own family physician," he added. "The determination of medical needs would be made by the local community which best understands local problems. The role of the federal government would be limited to a grant-in-aid :ype of programs controlled by the states with government assistance consisting of matching funds on a percentage basis."
Dr. Annis said Sen. Harry F. Byrd has termed the Kerr-Mills bill "a good bill."
"II is designed to help those in, need or as we call them the needy and sick,'* added the physician, who is editor-at-large for Medical Economics. "It takes care of those who need whether they are on social, security or not."
Dr. Annis said doctors of the nation feel that for most people the best plan is health insurance*                     V
"Strangely enough," he added, "people seem to have.a different attitude toward health insurance than toward any other kind of insurance. They'll pay a good premium on their house against fire and storm and hope they'll never have to collect, If the average person would look at the insurance
ical drugs and hospital bills or give them money with which to| he pays on his automobile he purchase health insurance for| would find it much more • than their needs.'*                              I what he pays for health and in-
surance. Yet he doesn't expect his auto insurance to pay for major repairs, replacement of tires and spark plugs. He's happy if he never has an accident. And if his fender gets bumped he pays $10