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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 26, 1981)
hicago hospital faces dilemma THE BATTALION Page 3B WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 1981 em ild age. to me, is botl i the solution- fidence of yoi United Press International CHICAGO—In the late Paddy lyefsky’s satirical film, “The pital," a harried clerk is seen trying around an emergency m seeking billing information up to be a const! think the salvafij ity lies in cuttc; han increasing la it back I ; origin; I to put kids tin isn’t meant to uni 1 care or i provide a modi) independence 1 age. 3 do this are upli 'hat’s what we I that’s what now one for Democraticii Health care plan in progress i ; in acciunk: uuuut; miui main, it programwid, n impoverished sick people. "You can’t be treated unless I lought that asi) e your insurance number, ” she )30 depressionyej ids. A broad spectrum of igo-area groups fear lyefsky’s vision not only will ome reality but will be it Hack 1 meanresj ^ sa y j a y ma y no p j-, e f ar origin ln eit %li en bill collectors determine is entitled to patient care in United States. [fcare for the poor and elderly letermined only by whether are able to pay, the critics the mandate to care for the ion’s sick will be abandoned, flieir concern centers around s to collect unpaid bills and itute a patient pay plan at Cook inty Hospital, one of the estU.S. health care facilities. ,... ,, a public facility, serving many ms anditisntaj r , , ' ° J , gent people. peop e versus j ow ma ] (e suc ,} 1 patients pay matter oiasm ii ■ ■ i-, indhow much — is a dilemma our survival asa ilitary shield ad much attenlioi both sides agree is without uns or champions. The blem is likely to be faced by major urban hospitals, lounty commissioners, who j the sprawling Chicago facility, they cannot continue to rate it at a loss in a time of igent fiscal accounting on both and federal levels, lohelp keep the hospital open, d to the entirei / are attempting to find a way ollect the unpaid bills of the igharious, 21, a lent at the Univei gh, said: “Yes, I to pay fort I’ll never seel I could invest I than the could take m§]e should beaclil. , L i * * 3withyouriMw’ ^ tdd/ludfc to C\U C ird, Conn., wm T Motion’s sick will to be identifieJsl abandoned. y was a fraud. : facade,” she :y is a tax. We’rei ty, it’s not fum lust paying f lat’s all. It’s a re government' care for the poor and lerly is determined lyby whether they are to pay, the critics joys lent , and establish an equitable so that what people pay ;nds on how much they earn, yatt Medical Management ices Inc., employed by the ity to help solve economic ilems, proposed that patients covered by private insurance, licaid, Medicare or other ;rams pay up to 10 percent of • gross income over three •estry Depart® c now being If uifacturedinte d in this way aii lants introduce! Iryan is theAgt orchid, which b the state’s 1 ; careful cl Aryan today isal Ivise peo; rowing a sped it will flourish inch tried ei mn concedes lei e about the sir as he did id he continue' ropagation ob nd watch they ■long efforts gn’ lie state attorney’s office has un a stepped-up effort to ;ctunpaid bills that the county nates amount to some $196 “There was a philosphy that County Hospital was a free hospital,” said William Doyle, chief administrative officer for the county. “It isn’t a free hospital. It can’t be. The taxpayers can’t afford it. There are people being treated there who can well afford to pay, The issue is politically sensitive. The concept of forcing the poor and elderly to pay more than half their income for hospital care is an albatross no elected official wants abound his neck. and they are going to have to pay. ” The issue is politically sensitive. The concept of forcing the poor and elderly to pay more than half their income for hospital care is an albatross no elected official wants around his neck. A coalition of civic and activist groups has expressed outrage that patients who rely on County Hospital — most of whom are black or elderly — will be harassed into paying bills they cannot afford. “It is like squeezing blood from a turnip,” said Dr. Quentin Young, former chief of the hospital’s Department of Medicine. “We can’t destroy 100 years of tradition under this guise.” Young sees the problem spreading to other major urban care facilities faced with a similar dilemma. “The Hyatt people, coming from California, ought to know better — that they are having a possibility of destroying the medical care system,” Young added. “What they are proposing is unconscionable.” In Los Angeles, A similar program was adopted two years ago. Critics charge that it brought in only 10 cents of every dollar, a figure further diminished by the taxpayers’ cost to support collection agencies. “It is ludicrious to pay $6 million, or nearly 10,000 days of hospital care, to a consultant firm over three years to have them propose that a family of four in the city of Chicago with an income of $15,000 per year pay 100 percent of their hospital care,” said state Sen. Richard Newhouse, D-Chicago. However, Liston A. Witherill, president and project director for Hyatt, defended the proposal. He said $900,000 was spent last year in Cook County to recover $5 million — a figure he said would increase if the ability-to-pay plan is adopted along with increased efforts to get patients to pay their bills. Witherill calls the “patient economic obligation schedule” developed by Hyatt the most “fair and equitable way” to bill patients — and prevent Cook County Hospital from having to close. “Under our amended plan, persons with gross annual incomes of less than $7,000 would have zero percent obligation. The scale and responsibility increases depending upon the size of the family and the amount of money earned,” he said. Critics, like Susan McDermott, a registered nurse and president of the local unit of the Illinois Nurses Association, said the scale is unrealistic in today’s inflationary economy. “An average hospital stay is nine days. At $630 per day that’s $5,670. How can you expect a family of four earning just over $15,000 a year to pay $150 a month for 36 months?” McDermott asked. “Consider the fact that we see many of the same patients return several times in a if they have no insurance. It is this scenario that mirrors Chayefsky’s movie, and has doctors worried. “The determination of who needs emergency versus nonemergency care can only be made by a doctor, not by an administrator,” said Dr. Kathleen Fagan of CCH. “And it can only be made after the doctor sees the patient. We object to any proposal that would have our patients seeing a financial interviewer before they see a doctor. ” The plan is being studied by a committee which will make a recommendation to the full board before it can be adopted. John Stroger Jr., committee chairman, said despite the criticism, the concept is a “humane” attempt to collect money from those who can afford to pay for medical care. “The original concept of Cook County Hospital, to treat everyone that walks through the door, will be maintained,” Stroger said. One unresolved question is how much money will be generated by the ability to pay plan. “We’re not going to get rich by it,” Witherill said. Machine allows surgery for religious group United Press International HOUSTON — Doctors are using a laboratory machine that separates blood into its component parts to help Jehovah’s Witnesses through cancer surgery they once might have refused. Members of the Jehovah’s Witness faith believe as part of their religious training that their blood should remain in constant contact with their bodies. In the past, that could not be accomplished during operations and many people of that faith have refused necessary surgery and died. Two staff members at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer and Tumor Institute came up with the idea of using the blood separator machine in the operating room to help Jehovah’s Witnesses circumvent their concerns. Dr. Benjamin Lichtiger, director of the blood bank at M.D. Anderson, noted that the machines remove blood from the body at one rate and simultaneously return it at a different rate. Because of the time lapse in returning the blood into the body, the separator can build up a reservoir outside the patient’s body during surgery and reinfuse it as needed. By utilizing the machine, the blood remains in constant contact with the body, a factor vital to its use in treating Jehovah’s Witnesses, doctors said. The machine was first used several weeks ago in an operation performed by gynecologist Dr. Jan Seski on a 21-year-old patient who needed to have a tumor removed from her pelvis. “Because she was a Jehovah’s Witness, he was concerned about the potential loss of blood during the operation,” said Dr. Jaques Dupuis, the anesthesiologist. Dupuis said he wanted to set up a closed loop recirculating system on the patient to pump the patient’s blood into multiple anti-coagulant bags, dilute it and then reinfuse the blood back into the patient. But, instead Lichtiger suggested the blood separator, which could do what Dupuis wanted, plus had the added abilty to store separately the platelets and plasma, which can be infused after surgery when most needed. Although there is some risk in using the separator during the operation, Dupuis said it is far less than having the surgery performed if blood transfusions cannot be administered. “The risks are related directly to the amount of blood lost during surgery,” he said. Lichtiger said the potential use of the blood cell separator is widespread, because 70 percent of the blood banks in the United States have the type of machine in their laboratories. Doctors at M.D. Anderson have tried the separator in five different operations in recent months. Although the results vary because each patient was at a different phase of cancer treatment, doctors were able to preserve precious blood during the operations. And the surgical benefits of cell separators are not limited to Jehovah’s Witnesses, doctors said. Patients with rare blood types, for whom blood might not be readily available, could use them along with patients who run risks of contracting post-transfusion hepatitis. “It isn t a free hospital. It can’t be. The taxpayers can t afford it. There are people being treated there who can well afford to pay, and they are going to have to pay. ” — William Doyle, chief administrative officer for Cook County. three-year period. Their bills would never stop.” Hyatt’s proposal will require patients to provide adequate identification and proof of income s S S N S s S !> S N S Firewater Dancing Country Music People Watching Billiards (By the Hour Electronic Gam Mou.-Fri. 5-17 Sat. 5 p.m.-l OURS: COWBOY HAPPY HOUR! Monday-Saturday 5 pan. 'til 7 p.m. All drinks Ya prices BOY LADIES! No Cover Charge Monday-Thursday us One Free Bar rink or Beer! 775-0494 y me Together) 2820 Finfeatl (Where Biyan and College Statii "THE MOST FUM YOU CAM MVE TOMIGtrn^^ Battalion Classifieds Call 845-2611 Saturday^ August 1981 • I 8:00 ellgpi AGS For all the you want U.’s ' ' - sJ®P : w miissiillltr’ Wholesale tpsaptlliji 20 TYPES OF BEER IN PARTY KEGS OR I • v ; tlQUOR BY THE CASE on used msm SATE orner : rom Offi ce 1219 NORTH TEXAS having a party?... let J. j. SUPPLY YOU!! Joe Johnny Rufflno Class of ’73 More lanes. Less waiting. Now open Saturdays. 8:30 9:00 9:30 10:00 10:30 11:00 11:30 12:00 1:00 1:30 2:00 2:30 3:00 Now Brazos Savings’ drive- thru lanes are open on Satur days from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. to serve our customers. Weekday hours at the motor bank have been adjusted to 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Now it’s even more convenient to make a deposit, cash a check, withdraw savings or make payments from your car. 3:30 4:00 4:30 5:00 220 Saturday, August 8 US We have 8 lanes in the middle of town (2800 Texas Avenue) and 4 lanes in College Station (Texas Avenue at Southwest Parkway) and 1 in down town Bryan (114 S. Bryan Street) — more than any other financial institu tion in the area. All are open on Satur day (except downtown Bryan). For fast, convenient banking from your car, come to Brazos Savings. We have more lanes and less waiting. And now we’re open on Saturdays. BRAZOS Savings Home Office Bryan, TX