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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1977-10-13, Page 5sykesve (;ODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, THURSDAY, OCTOBER'13. 1977.7,-pq,Cg.$ , Ontario doctors who participate in the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) will seek the right to charge higher fees for some of their patients in the future. Ontario doctors now get 90 per cent of the fee schedule from OHIP, but if they are granted the right to charge higher fees at their discretion they won't ask anyone to fill out a detailed question- naire on their earning potential like the patient was a mortgage applicant. Dr. Lazarus Loeb, President of the Ontario Medical Assoctation, said that doctors as individuals have used their own judgement in the past and could do so in the future. - What if the medical profession could establish their own fee schedules and compete for business? It would raise some interesting possibilities. But would our venerable doctors even toss their surgical gowns into the competitive business ring? Why a trip to the medicine man would become as complicated as shopping around for a new 'car at the best price or finding the right washer and spin dryer combination to fit into the utility room in the basement. Under such a system could an Ontario patient compare deals on a vasectomy or perhaps even scrutinize prices on the current cost of double hernia operations ? If a patient were enterprising and could plan emergencies or hold out on that appendicitis problem he could take advantage of special weekend rates on appendix removals with ra bonus on double occupancy, Bring a friend. Even if they don't require the surgery it's tough to turn down a deal. It would certainly be advantageous to the consumer who found a low budget doctor in a small office on a quaint little sidestreet who offered a $49.98 deal on wart removal for the first 12 and $13.72 for every five after that. You could have 20 warts, removed at bargain prices. Local orthodontists may even offer a month end cletirance sale that would transform Becky, the local corn .on the cob eating champion, with a vicious overbite, into. a winsome beauty with a pleasing smile. '"Chiropractors could regroup and offer a Wednesday night group special, lop- ping off large discounts for a group of five or more with painful spinal disor- ders that require a few simple body slams, Savings of up to 30 per cent could he had by senior citizens whose hip ailments are relieved with a few deft strokes' of the fingers and a bit of com- tortable massaging. Pediatricians anxious for the younger trade, are rumored to be seriously considering offering kiddies their choice of any Tonka for every fracture, break or sprain while colds, sniffles -other minor disorders would only net a balloon and plastic dimp truck. Would psychiatrists dare to offer a _ two sessions for the price of one by using a second rate couch with faulty springs and mere reprints of ink blotches. Could members of group therapy realize small discounts by wading through an hour session in small low back chairs, instead Of a lush leather recliner. Life is difficult enough and even choosing between a beige cardigan and a Pierre Cardin creates probems. Will that be cash or OHIP? 6W, ti HE_ WEEK AFTER a dent su I no ity, e ha idy to itle lias Theo espea orst two successive months for ecent history haven't done much niers' spirits in the county. avy rains continue throughout ion the situatiori for most bean is extremely serious and the d weather outlook holds little ugh some farmers and ntatives of the Ontario Bean y to remain optimistic about the the losses could run as high at Ilion, _which represents ap- tely-80 percent of the ,crop in' ounty, It is estimated that only acres or 13 percent of . the 'ilia aff Win e Ch utt dp tions ;ford field Nia e not ) nto io doctors will seek a change in structure of the Ontario Health ce Plan (OHIP) that will allow charge some patient's more than azarus Loeb, president of the Medical Association made the ement to the press last week. e present structure doctors get ent of the association's fee from OHIP and accept it as full said at the news conference the ton doesn't want to apply a est to determine which patients e billed more than others. He INFORMATION, BACKGROUND AND OPINION HERE IN HURCIN Ontario's bean crop has been harvested. There are 63,000 acres of beans in Huron County alone. 'But now there is some confusion and controversy over the harvesting of beans in the area. The confusion has resulted over differences of opinion between the farmers and the Ontario Bean Producers Marketing Board who claim that much of the crop is still salvagable. Charles Broadwell, manager of the Bean Board, said that Board is ,negoiialing with canning companits to lower the grades for this year's harvest so that contracts can be filled. Broadwell said there will be some consideration for color but not for slits or picks and added that the beans must be 23 percent moisture or under. "It's a real selling job to the canners to take the slightly discolored beans," he said. "It's strictly up to the weatherman now, whether we can get more beans off." Since the Bean Board is fighting to salvage more of this, year's crop the Ontario Crop Insurance Commission has halted writing off any mombeans until a firm doois4o-n-irtYra de by the board. Many area farmers see little value in attempting to salvage what remains of the crop. They can't see spending another $25 per acre to take the beans off and get only $50 for the beans when in- surance is paying as much as $200 compensation per acre. Most farmers are also anxious to plow their fields as soon as possible to get the winter wheat planted since time is rapidly running out on that crop. They vvould also like to get the bean heads off the combine and begin the corn harvest since there is also a danger of losing it. But there is nearly 40 percent of' the bean crop that is not insured and would mean big losses. • Broadwell claims that • 1977 has been the worst year for bean farmers and certainly surpasses the harvest of 1967 when 28 percent of the crop Qas lost. Prior to the rains of August and Sep- tember there was a potential crop of 2,500,000 hundred weight bags in the fields He added that the board could fill their recently negotiated contra.cts with Europe with the beans that had already been harvested and didn't anticipate any shortage of seed beans next year. He ..s.a.i.LUICI—bcan supply over the:world and Michigan is also experiencing harvest difficulty due to the 1,veather conditions. Things look better in Lambton and Kent where the yield is expected to be much larger. The only thing the farmers needed was a little warm dry weather and it seems we have had everything but. In fact September was the cloudiest month on record since 1880 and the area received only 108 hours of sunshine. While the sun was away we were blessed with 130.5 mm or 5.22 inches of rain during the same month. When that figure is added to the 9.22 of inches of rain we--reeetred in August it adds up to the wettest two months in - succession in years. In fact August was the wettest month for any month of the PROVINCIAL said doctors have used their, own judgment to select those patients and they are still capable of doing that. He added that doctors are now working more hours than they ever did. Ontario Health Minister Dennis Timbrell refused to comment on the medical association proposal until he . was aware of the facts and details. He did say however, that he was wary of leaving the decision of whom to charge up to the doctors. Timbre!! claimed that Ontario residents shoulq know that the average number of OHIP claims has risen by 50 percent in the past five years. In 1971 Ile eo dians and business and labor are looking to 'new Finance r Jean C'nretien for some stimulta-;, Chretien isn't sure look either. is probably being more realistic tlook when he told the House of that Canada's unemployment d not go down within the next a half. es believe howeVer, that in - of the gross national product by as 4 or 5 percent next year will the employment rate in Canada ough to make a major impact ployment. Although Canadian oi qu y/ short span of two decades man e great advances in space ex - Tuesday marked the 20th an - 110 Y of the day that a Russian as launched from a windswept mewhere in Asia and marked nitial attempt at space ex- iO unching on October 4, 1957 of 1, came as a shock to the world ciaIIY the United States. Sputnik primitive basketball sized 184 und metal capsule, that the s released into space. lag the launching millions of each person claimed an average of four medical services but by 1976 the figure had risen to six per person. He said that no one in Ontario would be turned away from health care but said they should exercise some judgment in seeking medical attention. Loeb said the assoCiation appreciates the fact that the government has limited resources and faces' problems with the economy which is why he claims some patients should share the cost of medical care. Loeb claims the Ontario government, while lidvocating equality in treatment, does its own selection of patients by subsidizing drug benefits for certain POINTS peoph.n and paying all or part of OHIP premiums for the less affluent. Under the present system, doctors who participate in OHIP are paid for each service they give a patient. The plan reimburses participating doctors for 90 percent of a fee schedule negotiated by a joint doctor -government committee, The minority of doctors not involved with the plan may bill their patients above the fee schedule although the patients may collect only the stan- dard payment from OHIP. These doc- tors lose fhe advantage of having payinents guaranteed. Family doctors have been among the CANADA IN SEVEN unemployment figures remain high, possibility of a new federal budget. Some 200,000 more people are employed in provinces want an immediate end to Canada than last year at the same time. wage and price controls and others would rather have them remain for two The Canadian economy could realize or three years. sustained growth over the next three to At the conference Ontario made a proposal to reduce provincial sales tax to stimulate spending but Chretien said he was neutral to that idea and only a few provinces were receptive. Alberta does not have a sales tax and other In a two-day conference With Provinces claim they would have to provincial , finance ministers Chretien support Ontario manufacturing with a heard several views from his provincial sales tax reduction. counterparts on ways to stimulate the Ontario Treasurer, Darcy McKeough, economy, what the Government should proposed in the meeting that if Ottawa do about wage and price controls and the was thinking of stimulating the economy five years if the government is suc- cessful in holding back inflation, im- proving its competitive position on the foreign market and restoring confidence in the people about our future. it should arrange to give money to the provinces in exchange for provincial commitments.. -to lower the provincial sales tax. McKeough " said that Chretien's first reaction was that Ottawa did not have the money to hack the scheme. _ Chretien told finance ministers' at the meeting ~ the federal government's budgetarY and non -budgetary deficit expected to be a record S8 billion in the fiscal year 1977-78 which is up from the $6.4 billion forecast in March. unemployment in that province, Quebec Finance Minister Jacques Manitoba called for an emergency Parizeau said he was pleased with the nationwide' joh-creation program to federal -provincial discussions and that meet the threat of high unemployment Quebec would be back in Ottawa in a few this winter. most outspoken in •criticism of the Ontario health care system and of the association wh negotiates for doctors with- the government. Dr, Eric Murray, past president of the Ontario .chapter of the College of Family Physicians said that doctors are now working more hours than ever before and were sliding behind. Another association director,. Dr, Edward Moran said that family doctors are frustrated. But Loeb made a pitch for unity arriong the doctors and told them they have to be their brothers' keeper and weeks with a specific plan for tougher import duties and quotas to help its unemployment situation. Footwear, clothing, textiles and furniture production accounts for 25 percent of the manufacturing in Quebec and the in- dustries peed help in competing with foreign producers-. Nova Scotia Finance. Minister, Peter 'Nicholson ‘vants help from Ottawa to construct an offshore fishing fleet to exploit offshore fisheries and alleviate WORLDWEEK people all over the world would view Sputnik in the evening skies as it circled the earth every 96,2 minutes at an altitude of 560 miles and emitting a resounding, beep beep. The newspaper Pravda ran a banner headline that read, "Russians win race as whole world watches flight of satellite." Soviet citizens were obviously proud of the space victory and crowded around bulletin boards with the latest editions of Moscow newspapers and read a New York dispatch from Pravda correspondents who reported that some Americans had reacted with confusion and hysteria. The Americans feared the Sputnik would eventually lead to technology that would rain nuclear bombs on their heads. But the Russians shocked the world one month later when they launched a live dog in Sputnik 2. But the dog, called Laika, became the world's' first space casualty when its oxygen supply ran out on November 15, 1957. The United States entered the space race and after several rocket explosions, they managed to launch their first satellite Explorer 1 in January 1958. EXplorer 1 had the satisfaction of makiag the first important discovery of the Space Age - the earth's Van Allen radiation belts. The Soviets then pressed ahead with a number of spare firsts including the successful launching of the first man into orbit when cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin spent an hour and 49 minutes circling the earth on April 12, 1961. The United' States had token a hack seat to the R ussians too lring and President John F. Kennedy committed the country to landing a man on the moon and bringing him safely hafk to earth before the end of the 1960's. After the U.Sfr: completed their Mer- cury series of flights, they began ex- periments with the two-man Gemini. so they ripped (•quipment out of Voskhod, and launched it with three men cra mmed inside. There wasn't even room for t he spa ces i s. With this manoeuvre the ussians had apparently made great advances in the space game and the effort to reach the moon but they weren't capable of carrying off their bluff. The United States finally claimed space for its own during,1965 and 1966 with the Gemini series of flights in which astronauts rehearsed manoeuvres 'such as ren- resist legislation that whittles away at the profession from a nY direction. One example he said w'as a draft bill to restrict doctors from having a financial interest in a medical laboratory. Loeb said the purpose of the bill. was to remove the possibility of a conflict of interest, but such conflicts are already forbidden under the Healtla Disciplines Act. Ontario Health Minister Dennis Timbrell was worried about the new fee proposal and his government could ill afford a stiffer fee structure. But Chretien said that unemployment will not he improved by throwing money into job -creation programs and said the main problem in the economy is a lack of demand and low business confidence. He said the high consumer price index, which was accelerated by higher food prices in the first half of this year, is now behind us and would level off.' However, the Canadian dollar has now slipped to a 15 -year low on the market and although it may stimulate sortie foreign trade because of the good ex- Thange it will deter Canadians from holidaying abi oad or in the United States because of the poor return on the dollar exchange. dezvous, docking and space walking that would be vital to the subsequent Apollo lunar program that put American astronaut Neil Armstrong on the moon Ju ly 20, 1969. In the past 20 years over 2,000 satellites and probes have been launched by all nations many of them for military purposes. On clear nights it is possible to see several of these satellites floating in the sky. Of all the use's" ‘---a • space, com- munications satellites—.have had the greatest public impact. It's difficult to speculate on the future in space but is hard to believe that it began with a bleeping satellite.