John F. Kennedy photo

Remarks Upon Receiving a Statement by a Group of Physicians on Medical Care for the Aged.

March 27, 1962

Doctor, Mr. Secretary:

I want to express my appreciation to you for your statement, and also for the support that your statement has been given by some of the most distinguished members of the medical profession in the United States.

I am hopeful that the fact that so many outstanding doctors who believe in the responsibilities of the profession very strongly and have demonstrated it in their careers, I am hopeful that this support for this concept of medical care for the aged through social security will cause other doctors, others who are concerned about the health of our people, to examine and reexamine their own positions.

Doctor, the fact that you have supported this indicates that you believe that this is the most effective and responsible way to meet a very serious national problem. It maintains the freedom of the medical profession which has so benefited the people of this country and been responsible for so much progress. And yet it also provides security for our older people.

So I am hopeful, as I said, that this will stimulate careful thought by doctors across the country, that more and more of them will come to realize that this is really the best way to deal with a very pressing national emergency.

And therefore, doctor, and the other members of this committee, I want to say that in supporting this I believe that you are helping to meet the very great responsibility which the medical profession faces to care for our citizens.

So I want to express my thanks to you. This is an outstanding panel, and I believe that it will be most helpful in securing effective action in this field this year.

Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at noon in the Rose Garden at the White House. His opening words referred to Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Medical Director of the Rip Van Winkle Clinic, Hudson, N.Y., who served as spokesman for the group, and Abraham A. Ribicoff, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare.

The statement, signed by 43 doctors, was released by the White House on the same day.

John F. Kennedy, Remarks Upon Receiving a Statement by a Group of Physicians on Medical Care for the Aged. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/236240

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