November 25, 1972

Illus of Mrs Nixon during Oct 24 visit to NYC with family

sr US officials in Thailand say US and Thailand have agreed to maintenance of a strong US mil presence, mainly air power, in Thailand for an unspecified period after a Vietnam cease-fire; says any reduction in US strength in Thailand will result only from N Vietnamese willingness to abide by accords agreed upon in Paris or from legis by the US Cong

NYC Soc Services Dept repts on Nov 24 that it will no longer refer welfare clients to single-room-occupancy building at 9 West 102d St, Manhattan; building is described by police as one of the 'major crime centers' on West Side; 61 of 63 rooms in converted tenement are occupied by welfare recipients; Asst HRA Admr R F Carroll issues order taking building off dept's referral list, following gun battle there on Nov 22 in which a woman was killed and a police detective was wounded; tenement is 2d building to be removed from HRA referral list in past wk; NYS Atty Gen L J Lefkowitz says his office will move to curtail criminal activities at building; meanwhile, local groups in communities where many welfare hotels are situated continue to oppose them; West 76th St Block Assn pres J Lebowitz asserts block assns tend to be interested only in their own sts; says his group is interested in doing something about huge building at 230 W 76th St in which 88 crimes were committed between Jan 4 and Oct 20 this yr; notes 10% of building occupants are on welfare

Blue Shield pres Dr L J Raider on Nov 24 announces that Blue Shield will seek rate increases for more than 1/3 of 6.4-million subscribers in 17-county Greater NY area; rate increases will affect subscribers who pay their own premiums; 500,000 'community-rated' subscribers will pay more for Blue Shield plans to cancel their existing 'outdated and inadequate' policies and force them into programs providing more comprehensive coverage, at correspondingly higher premiums; some outdated plans cover surgery only--not including anesthesia; increases will not affect majority of subscribers under so-called 'experience rated' contracts, in which premiums are paid by employer, labor union or both; Raider, in announcing proposed increases, notes that Blue Shield lost $10-million in '71 and expects to lose even more in '72; discloses plan for new program under which subscribers will be eligible for 'maximum protection'; plan entails payment in full to any physician who agrees to certain limitations on his charges; plan detailed; chart of proposed increases for 3 types of contracts involving subscribers who pay their own premiums

Nixon illus