Project to Study Health Aid Plans

A five-year training program administered by the School of Public Health will explore problems arising from the expansion of medical aid. The program has been established under a $300,000 government grant to study administrative co-ordination of health and medical welfare services.

Expected extension of medical care under the Kenedy administration necessitates such a program, project director Robert H. Hamlin, associate professor of Public Health Administration, stated recently. Hamlin said that the lack of people capable of dealing with the administrative aspects of medical care "reflects the absence of a strong training and research effort centered on these matters."

The most important issues that the project will explore concern the merits of governmental versus private ways of paying for an extensive aid plan. Possible co-ordination of public and private medical care facilities to produce more effective services will also be considered.

The Harvard project calls for a new graduate seminar providing advanced instruction and a research forum for government officials. The School of Public Health will also concentrate on training future medical or administrative officials for policy-making posts.