Abstract

Around the U.S.A

The article comments on medical services of the U.S. A law suit pending in the District Court of western Oklahoma brings into sharp focus inherent differences between a prepayment plan or medical services and the fee-for-service theory of most private physicians. Brought by the Farmers' Union Hospital Association (FUHA) against the Beckham County Medical Society, the suit is the climax of twenty years of struggle among doctors serving the 20,000 people of the area. The FUHA operates the Community Hospital in Elk City, a typical plains town of some 8,000 people. The Community Hospital stands as the first successful attempt to combine prepayment of medical bills with group practice of doctors in an organization financed and operated by the patients who use its services.