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Lautenberg Announces Nearly $17 Million For 20 Health Centers Across New Jersey
Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) announced 20 New Jersey health centers will receive $16,987,384 to address facility and equipment needs, increase access to health care for underserved populations, and create construction-related jobs. The Capital Improvement Program (CIP) funds are being provided under the Economic Recovery Law signed by President Obama in February.
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Pitt Researchers Find Promising Candidate Protein For Cancer Prevention Vaccines
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have learned that some healthy people naturally developed an immune response against a protein that is made in excess levels in many cancers, including breast, lung, and head and neck cancers. The finding suggests that a vaccine against the protein might prevent malignancies in high-risk individuals.
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Federal Legislation Needed To Improve Oversight Of In Vitro Fertilization, Opinion Piece States
The Family Building Act of 2009 (H.R. 697, S. 1258) "takes an important first step toward improving the way insurers view infertility," but it is "not a silver bullet for improving the way [in vitro fertilization] treatments are conducted and covered," John Zhang, founder and director of the New Hope Fertility Center in New York City, writes in an opinion piece in The Hill. The bill, introduced by Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) in the House and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) in the Senate, would require health insurance companies that cover obstetrical services to cover non-experimental treatment of infertility, including IVF.Zhang writes that one of the "most significant issues is that multiple-embryo transfers have become common practice," which increase the risk for premature delivery, contribute to infant mortality rates and add to costs. According to Zhang, the lack of federal guidelines, "coupled with failure by the insurance industry to cover IVF treatment in the U.S., has encouraged patients to insist on multiple embryo transfer to get the most out of the enormous out-of-pocket fees they incur per cycle." In addition, "because doctors are rewarded for better success rates, the emphasis moves from quality to quantity so that clinics may boost their success rates despite potentially dangerous and expensive health complications," Zhang writes.Zhang continues that if IVF "were more accessible and reimbursed by health insurers, and if embryo transfers were regulated, there would be consequences for clinics and physicians who practice irresponsibly," and it "would be nearly impossible for IVF to lead to high-order multiples with their attendant risks." Although the Family Building Act "addresses this problem from an insurance perspective, it does not incorporate all the critical pieces that would encourage more responsible IVF practices among patients and physicians," according to Zhang.Zhang suggests that lawmakers "set age limitations on insurance coverage to encourage responsible spending" and that regulators "revise the outdated IVF reporting system and start providing incentives that encourage responsible medical practices." He concludes that it is "crucial that legislators and doctors work together to create a regulated and safe environment for IVF patients that upholds the integrity of our country"s medical profession" (Zhang, The Hill, 6/22).
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Analyses: CBO Director Elmendorf Becomes Center Of Attention

Several analyses today on the Congressional Budget Office, and its director, Douglas Elmendorf, who has been at the center of increasing debate over health care reform after the recent release of the CBO"s "score" of health system overhaul legislation. President Barack Obama met with him Monday in a move that has spurred Republican criticism. The Wall Street Journal: "If President Barack Obama"s push for simultaneously expanding health coverage while restraining cost growth dies, history may record that it was stabbed on July 16, 2009. That day a slight, plain-spoken technocrat, Douglas Elmendorf, director of the Congressional Budget Office, said that, despite political rhetoric, pending legislation didn"t make "fundamental changeṣ€¦ necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal health spending by a significant amount"... The "emperor has no clothes" moment forced Congress to redouble efforts to squeeze the health system and reduced chances that a health bill will pass this year. It also highlighted two facts: One, in a city riddled with dysfunctional institutions, the CBO survives as a call-it-as-we-see-it outfit that rarely bends to political winds. Two, this health-care thing is hard." Columnist David Wessel writes: "CBO often is suspected of low-balling cost savings and high-balling the price tag on new benefits... CBO, like the White House, says a lot of spending in health care doesn"t contribute much to the nation"s health and could be squeezed out by fundamental changes to health financing and delivery. Doing that requires Congress to make uncomfortable and unpopular changes. Mr. Elmendorf insists CBO will give big credit for big changes. CBO critics fear that if it won"t certify politically possible changes as money-savers, there is little incentive for Congress to do anything -- and the effort will collapse" (Wessel, 7/23). Meanwhile, an ABC News blog reports: "Republicans on Wednesday criticized as inappropriate a meeting President Obama held Monday with the director of the Congressional Budget Office, Douglas Elmendorf. Elmendorf, a Democratic appointee, has been a thorn in the side of President Obama and congressional Democrats for the way he has analyzed health care reform legislation." One frustration for health care advocates is that the CBO does not factor in savings from prevention efforts. ABC News notes: "Last week, frustrated at one analysis by Elmendorf, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., snapped, "what he should do is maybe run for Congress." "No one blames Mr. Elmendorf for accepting an invitation from the President of the United States," House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said in a statement. "The issue is whether it was appropriate for the White House to invite him to discuss pending legislation before Congress at all." Said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky: "I noticed that the CBO director was sort of called down to the White House yesterday. It strikes me as somewhat akin as the owner of the team asking the umpires to come up to the owner"s box"... Writing about the meeting on his blog, Elmendorf said President Obama asked him and other outside experts for their "views about achieving cost savings in health reform. I presented CBO"s assessment of the challenges of reducing federal health outlays and improving the long-term budget outlook while simultaneously expanding health insurance coverage" (Tapper, 7/22). A Fox News blog also weighed in on the issue: "Although Elmendorf is a Democratic appointee, some say he has done extensive political damage to President Obama and Congressional Democrats leading the charge on health care reform" (Emanuel, 7/22). This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at kaiserhealthnews.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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