Sunday, July 26, 2009

Today's Papers: Healthy Debate

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today's papers
Healthy Debate
By Jesse Stanchak
Posted Sunday, July 26, 2009, at 6:37 AM ET

The Washington Post leads with a look at the evolving debate over health care reform. While previous reform efforts reffered to providing universal coverage as a moral issue, President Barack Obama is instead focusing on reigning in the burgeoning cost of care. Now some experts worry that all this focus on cost may backfire, because the little administrative cuts being proposed fail to address more systemic problems with our health care system. The Los Angeles Times leads with an inside look at the deal making and petty squabbles that turned the state legislature's last-minute work on a budget bill into "a slow-moving train wreck." The New York Times leads, at least online, with a look at the difficulties facing Justice Department antitrust official Christine A. Varney as she tries to regulate a number of industries where large companies are choking competition. In addition to the usual industry opposition, Varney now finds herself having to spar with other White House officials as well.

On the flip side of the health care debate, the WP points out in its off-lead story that as medical costs have grown over the years, treatment has become much more effective. For common problems like heart disease, treatment options and survival rates are dramatically higher than they were 50 years ago, but that care has also become dramatically more expensive. The paper wonders aloud if continued advances in care will devour any savings created by a health care reform bill.

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Jesse Stanchak is a writer living in Washington, D.C.

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