The Act itself promised “adequate medical attendance and treatment,” but under regulations this has been limited, so that in practice it means chiefly the treatment only of minor ailments. Thus (_a_) there is no provision for hospital treatment of patients needing this, except the Sanatorium provision for tuberculosis; (_b_) with the same exception, there is no provision for expert services. A patient requiring operative treatment for fractures, for an amputation, or an operation for appendicitis, or needing treatment for some affection of the eyes, or nose, or throat, or ears, or the intravenous treatment of syphilis is excluded from medical benefit. So likewise are dental requirements. (_c_) There is no provision for pathological diagnosis, except such as is common to the entire population, and no X-ray diagnosis, except possibly for tuberculosis. (_d_) There is no provision for nursing assistance. In view of the unequal distribution and insufficient provision of hospitals for the general population, of their inaccessibility to large masses of patients, and of the insufficiency of the present provision for the scientific aid to treatment which modern medicine demands for insured and non-insured alike, it is evident that the provision for medical treatment under the Act is unsatisfactory and inadequate, and that it conduces to prolonged illness, which treatment provided on more satisfactory lines would avoid. To state adequately the defects of the medical provisions of the Insurance Act a long address would be required. They are, however, generally well known, and their existence and seriousness is admitted by all. (See also page 90.) It is necessary, however, to say more on the _General Practitioner Treatment_