'Trim-the-deficit push would aid reform.'

A deficit-reduction bill will offer the most likely legislative vehicle for a healthcare reform proposal next year, one member of the House Ways and Means health subcommittee said. Rep. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.), speaking to the National Association of Public Hospitals earlier this month, also said, "There is no perfect healthcare reform proposal. We need to take risks and move forward."

Ambitious goals, political shoals

President-elect Bill Clinton's vaunted skills as a consensus-builder will be put to the test next year as he advances a healthcare reform agenda. His ambitious proposals, which could produce the most sweeping changes in delivery and financing since the 1965 enactment of Medicare and Medicaid, must be steered through a sea of special interests and diverse congressional reform plans.

As healthcare groups help fill campaign coffers, the question is: what is the money buying?

The American Medical Association, with $1.4 million in contributions, led in campaign giving among 125 healthcare-related political action committees that reported a total of $7.6 million in contributions since Jan. 1, 1991. While consumers groups contend such special-interest giving provides clout in healthcare policy decisionmaking, the PACs say the money doesn't buy votes, only access to candidates and lawmakers.

Fund-raising research: prospecting for gold

As the fund-raising field grows and becomes more sophisticated, the need for research intensifies. Knowing the sources of information can simplify the task.

Incidence and phenotype restriction of lymphoid BLT-serine protease granules in spontaneously diabetes prone BB rats compared with a normal rat strain

In diabetes prone BB rats a relative increase of serine protease (SP)-positive lymphocytes (39.8 +/- 10%) was observed in peripheral blood at the time of diabetes manifestation (DM) compared with non-diabetic healthy Sprague Dawley control rats (Co: 10.3 +/- 4%), with BB rats at age of premanifestation (PM: 14.7 +/- 4%) and beyond age of expected manifestation (non-diabetic animals, ND: 25.2 +/- 4%). Similar absolute numbers were found in diabetic BB rats in comparison with Sprague Dawley rats. In PM, absolute numbers were lower in comparison with diabetic BB rats. SP granular positivity was found restricted to OX8+ lymphocytes. SP granule-bearing OX8+ lymphocytes were more frequently seen in the BB rat strain (PM: 74.3 +/- 8%; DM: 79.4 +/- 8%; ND: 78 +/- 10%) compared with normal rats (Co: 32.5 +/- 8%). Absolute numbers were lower in PM animals in comparison with DM rats. OX8+ cells were found in a higher relative number in DM animals (49.1 +/- 7%) compared with controls (28.2 +/- 3%), PM (26.3 +/- 5%) and ND (34 +/- 2%) animals. T lymphocytes expressing the W3/25+ marker, invariably negative for SP granules, were present in a higher relative number in ND (49.8 +/- 7%) and the control group (52.3 +/- 10%) compared with PM (31 +/- 8%) and DM (38 +/- 11%) animals. Absolute numbers of the OX39+ lymphocyte subpopulation were decreased in PM and DM-BB rats in comparison with the control group.