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Opinion Pieces Discuss Whether Current Efforts To Fix Health Costs Will Produce Sufficient Savings
David Brooks, New York Times: Health care costs have become "the crucial issue of [President Obama"s] whole presidency," Times columnist Brooks writes. According to Brooks, Obama"s original plan was to fund his priorities, including education and energy, with debt that would be paid off with future savings resulting from health care reform. Brooks writes that Obama"s aides have been discussing "game-changers" -- such as health information technology, wellness programs, preventive medicine, comparative effective measures and altering reimbursement policies -- that would result in cost reductions. However, Brooks writes that most experts do not think such efforts would "produce much in the way of cost savings over the next 10 years" and that "nobody is sure" the efforts would "ever produce significant savings." Brooks writes that because "there are deep structural forces, both in Medicare and the private insurance market" that make it "nearly impossible to put together a majority coalition for a bill" challenging those structures, reform efforts this year likely will produce a "medium-size bill that expands coverage to some groups but does relatively little to control costs." Brooks concludes, "Without serious health cost cuts," Obama"s agenda "will hasten fiscal suicide" (Brooks, New York Times, 5/15).
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Poorer Countries Need Help With H1N1
Poorer countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America are far from ready to deal with an H1N1 pandemic, and will need help to develop stockpiles
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Delivering Vaccine Through The Skin Could Be The Future For The Prevention Of Ear Infections
An experimental vaccine applied to the surface of the skin appears to protect against certain types of ear infections. Scientists from the Research Institute at Nationwide Children"s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, reported their findings at the 109th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in Philadelphia.
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Conservative Groups Outline Strategies To Challenge Potential Supreme Court Nominees

The New York Times reports that it has obtained 10 memorandums prepared by conservative groups on President Obama"s possible choices to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice David Souter that outline how conservatives hope to frame the coming nomination debate. The memos focus on 10 female potential nominees. Although the groups have gathered information on about three dozen people, both liberals and conservatives expect that Obama will nominate a woman for the position.The memos analyze the possible nominees" records and dissect statements they have made that conservative groups find objectionable. The memorandum on Judge Diane Wood criticizes her as an "outspoken" supporter of "abortion, including partial-birth abortion." In addition, the memo on Judge Sonia Sotomayor says she is willing to expand rights in the Constitution past where the text allows, while the summary on Judge Kathleen Sullivan says she supports same-sex marriage.According to the Times, conservatives have acknowledged that Democrats" control of the Senate gives them little chance of defeating the nomination, but they still aim to mount a formidable debate. Conservative groups hope that rallying their supporters behind a common cause "could help refill depleted coffers and galvanize a movement demoralized by Republican electoral defeats," the Times reports. Gary Marx, executive director of the conservative Judicial Confirmation Network, said that donors have committed to contributing millions of dollars for advertisements on television, radio and the Internet. Richard Viguerie, a conservative fundraiser, said, "It"s an immense opportunity to build the conservative movement and identify the troops out there." Nan Aron, president of the liberal Alliance for Justice, said, "I think the mood and the politics of the country have passed [conservatives] by." According to the Times, liberal groups also have created a shared research pool for the coming debate (Savage, New York Times, 5/17). Washington Post Examines Issues in Nomination Debate The Washington Post on Sunday examined how the issue of same-sex marriage is in some ways overshadowing abortion rights as a priority for conservatives in preparing to challenge Obama"s nominee for the Supreme Court position (Murray, Washington Post, 5/17). In addition, the Post on Sunday profiled Wood as one of the likely candidates for the nomination (Slevin, Washington Post, 5/17).Steele, Kaine Spar on "Meet the Press" Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, the Democratic National Committee chair, discussed the Supreme Court vacancy and abortion-rights issues, among other topics, in an appearance on Sunday on NBC"s "Meet the Press," the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. In reference to Obama"s comments that he intends to nominate a judge who displays "empathy," Steele said, "I need a judge who is going to take the constitution, apply the facts, apply the law and come to a reasoned, sound judgment." Kaine replied, "Empathy is the ability to understand how an opinion written in a closed chamber actually gets played out in real people"s lives. That"s what this president wants, and I"m surprised that the other guys would have a problem with that" (Nolan, Richmond Times-Dispatch, 5/18). Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women"s Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women"s Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company. © 2009 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.


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