Infirm Stillman

Tuition for one regular term in Harvard College is quoted on the books at an even $200. But it would be less misleading to call it $215 and avoid the implication that the Medical and Infirmary fee is anything less than obligatory, for the only ground on which an undergraduate can be exempted from payment of the fee is that he be a Christian Scientist. Otherwise he must come through with that $15 per term, $45 for a full year including Summer Term, even though he may be a resident of Cambridge, married, with his own private physician, and a subscriber to the Massachusetts Blue Cross and Blue Shield, which cover almost every medical or surgical need.

The Hygiene Department has reasons, if not justification, for its policy. The compulsory fee is a form of insurance and a large number of individuals must contribute to the kitty so that its operation may conform to the law of averages. The University feels obligated to protect the health of every student whether he come from far or near. Perhaps those who must pay their "protection" fee without expecting ever to benefit by a single nickel's worth of medical services would feel less defrauded if they could know that their contribution helped guarantee every Harvard student the best and most complete medical care possible. But such is not the case.

The Massachusetts Comprehensive Blue Cross and Blue Shield plan presents an example of what can be achieved by a group medical insurance program, and the Hygiene Department's offerings suffer from a comparison. Designed primarily for the benefit of a group whose income is less than $1,500 a year, and including all ages, Blue Cross and Blue Shield can expect that a large percentage of its members will become ill than would be the case for Harvard's normally healthy undergraduates. Yet its rates are only $23.80 per year for a Single Membership (compared to the Hygiene Department's $45). And for their money, hospitalized participants get x-rays, regardless of cost, a maximum of 120 days for each separate hospital admission, laboratory tests, drugs, serums, oxygen, anesthesia, and all hospital services, whether surgical or medical that are required. Members can choose any hospital and any physician, with the exception of some ten percent of Massachusetts doctors who do not participate in the plan.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield do not cover minor illnesses such as colds and sore throats. On this score the Hygiene Department has the advantage; yet the cost of caring for such minor ailments must not constitute a very considerable proportion of the Department's expenses, since all the patient usually receives is advice to go buy a box of aspirin and a package of cough drops at Billings and Stover. Should the student require x-rays, anesthetics, special materials, or special laboratory examinations, he must pay for them himself. Care in Stillman is limited to one week per term, and Stillman does not handle cases of major illness or those involving surgery. All these facts suggest that Harvard students are compelled to pay more and receive less than do participants in at least one other alternative plan. They suggest further that perhaps the Hygiene Department's claim that the benefits it offers are "more inclusive than those of other health insurance plans" rests on rather dubious supports.