At a time when there seems to be much controversy as to the exact status of health insurance and legislation for state medicine in Australia and New Zealand, the official report of the Committee on Economics of the Canadian Medical Association,1 presented at the annual meeting in Montreal, June 19 to 23, is especially welcome. The similarity of reactions of the medical profession throughout the world indicates how much physicians are concerned everywhere in maintaining suitable standards of medical practice.
In 1924 the commonwealth government of Australia appointed a royal commission on national health insurance. This commission omitted medical benefits from its system of insurance and recommended only old age pension and sickness benefit. Action did not follow this report. Then in 1935 the commonwealth government invited Sir Walter Kinnear, controller of the insurance department, Ministry of Health, England, to visit Australia and to assist in the investigation of