Great Salesmanship

THE ADMINISTRATION Great Salesmanship

Having 90% of the people respond favorably to one of his proposals is not enough for Lyndon Johnson. Last week, as the deadline came for signing up for the full benefits of the new medicare program, one of the widest and most successful canvassing drives in history had enrolled all but 10% of the 19 million eligible. But if one sheep be lost, would not Lyndon Johnson leave the flock to go in search of it? At the very last minute, he asked Congress to extend the initial deadline for enrollment by two months, until May 31, thus rescuing those who had not signed up from being excluded from the plan until 1967. The Senate approved the proposal the very next day, and the House of Representatives is expected to go along.

Medicare benefits become available July 1 for virtually everyone over 65. Medicare Part 1, providing primarily for hospital expenses, is paid for by payroll deductions and provides automatic coverage for those in the Social Security and Railroad Retirement Systems. Medicare Part 2, which will pay most physicians' bills and other costs not defrayed by Part 1, is financed half by the Government and half by beneficiaries' contributions of $3 a month. It was to get oldsters to sign up for this bargain that the Great Society waged its great sales campaign.

The drive, which began in September, at first proved a dud. By Dec. 31, only 8,000,000 had enrolled, and the rate was a discouraging 120,000 a week. The Government reacted with follow-up mailings to those who had not responded to the first one, printed promotional pamphlets in 22 languages, retained a public relations firm and hired an additional 1,800 employees for the last weeks of the job. The Office of Economic Opportunity contributed $2,000,000 and 8,000 workers. Using planes and dog sleds for transportation in remote areas of Alaska, and a horse to reach at least one Maine community, Government workers combed the cities and the countryside for subscribers.

By week's end, some 17 million people had been enrolled--including 500,000 who had at first turned down the initial mail solicitation. About 1,000,000 still declined and another 1,000,000 are uncommitted. Meanwhile, the President has turned to pushing yet another section of the Medicare Act: a federal-state program to give medical assistance to the poor, with emphasis on children, that requires states rather than individuals to sign up. "The world's wealthiest nation," said Johnson in formally beginning the campaign, "must also be the world's healthiest."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.