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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, NOVEMBER 8, 1985
PAGE 11
investments in the economy--is deeply worried. Health insurance offi
cials, citing the high cost of treating AIDS patients, are pleading
that their companies be allowed to screen individuals for the presence
of AIDS antibodies before deciding whether to insure them.
As the
November 2 LOS ANGELES TIMES reported:
Dr. Donald Chambers•••testifying [before a congressional
subcommittee] on behalf of the Health Insurance Assn. of
America, said that the association's 335 companies are
•exploring the possibility• of using blood tests •to protect
our policyholders• from high premiums that result when
companies pay out AIDS benefits. The average hospital cost
for an AIDS patient is $147,000, according to the federal
Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.
Chambers,
criticizing recent laws in California and Wisconsin that
prohibit insurers from using the antibody tests, said that
such legislation results in •unfair subsidization of the
higher-risk group by the low-risk population.••••
Amid forecasts of a continuing AIDS epidemic, concern has
grown among insurers that mounting claims could put them out
of business. Also, hospitals around the country assert that
they are losing money on AIDS patients who are unable to pay
because they have lost their health insurance along with
their jobs.... [But J Rep. Henry A. Waxman CD -Los Angeles) ,
chairman of the subcommittee, said that "when an epidemic
strikes, special responsibilities arise," adding that
hospitals must not "hide
·
from the costs" of caring for
patients, and insurance companies "should not be permitted
to use guesswork to underwrite risks."
[Mr. Waxman's
district has a sizeable homosexual community.]
Leaders of Character Two of the most remarkable political leaders on
the world scene today are in Asia--81-year-old Deng Xiaoping, top man
in China, and 67-year-old Yasuhiro Nakasone, Prime Minster of Japan.
What both leaders possess in common is a supply of human humility
unique for men occupying such exalted positions.
One thing that
particularly struck me about China on my .recent trip there (reported
more fully in the November 4 "Worldwide News") is that one literally
has to hunt for a picture of Deng in public:
The situation is the
exact opposite of the "personality cult" so often prevailing in other
Communist or one-party systems. In a special interview Deng granted to
the editors of TIME magazine (November 4) Deng said this:
I don't want people to honor me. Never. I don't deserve
that. Because what I do is nothing other than what reflects
the wishes of the Chinese people and the Communist Party
members. And the policies formulated in recent years have
been formulated collectively. In the� 30 years .Q.f so, l
� .™ of the principal leaders in China, and l think l
should be held respgnsible for the mistakes during those
years. !Q
-™
is perfect in the world. So that's why I
never want to write a memoir or an autobiography.