European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 14, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 the stars and stripes thursday november 14, 1985 Baker says . Pushes 5-naf/on fiscal reforms r _ t i  . Washington a Treasury Secretary James a. Baker Iii said on tuesday that the Accord to drive Down the value of the . Dollar was Only the first slip to More coordination among the five big financial pow ers on improving the International monetary system. The g-5 announcement is not a one shot Effort but one step in a continuing process of enhanced economic cooperation focusing on he underlying fundamentals he told an International conference on monetary prob lems called by members of Congress. The Plaza hotel Accord is now Only seven weeks old he said. In addition. Governments will be continuing their efforts to evaluate the system and consid ering possible improvements in the system. "g-5" is shorthand for the group of five the United states Britain West Germany France and Japan. Baker met with their ministers of finance at the Plaza hotel in new York in september. They agreed to work together to increase the value of other countries currencies against the Dollar. The Hope is that a cheaper Dollar will enable Ameri can Industry to sell More goods in other countries and discourage . Imports so As to reduce the big . Deficit in world Trade which May reach $150 billion this year. It May also reduce the flow of foreign Money into the United states. The conference is sponsored by sen. Bill Bradley d n.j., and rep. Jack Kemp r-n.y., both widely Dis cussed As possible candidates for president in 1988. In contrast to other speakers at the meeting. Baker said the International monetary system provided a Good framework to adapt to financial shocks Over the past decade including High inflation and big increases in Oil prices. Helmut Schlesinger vice president of the Deutsche Bundesbank the West German Central Bank pointed to the Large sums of Money it had spent in efforts to stabilize inc system. Yusuke Kashiwagi chairman of the Board of the Bank of Tokyo said the extreme fluctuations in the value of the yen against the Dollar 10 to 20 percent in a year were seriously detrimental to sound investment. Baker acknowledged that the system has not been As stable As we would have  the close interdependence of our economies has magnified the potential Impact of policies in one country on the ability of other countries to pursue their own economic objectives he said. This interdependence coupled with divergent economic performance among the major Industrial countries has contributed. To Large Exchange rate movements and potentially destabilizing imbalances among our economies which have fostered. Exceedingly Strong protectionist measure. There is a Clear need therefore to improve the functioning and the stability of the system As an essential framework for International Trade and for Overall eco nomic  preventive Medicine not cheaper study says clearly Good health does have intrinsic value and is Worth paying for Wshington a preventive Medicine May be Good for your health but it does t save Money says a new study by the Brookings institution that challenges one of the most widely held beliefs in Public health. In fact says the study by Bracking economist Louise b. Russell preventive Medicine nearly always costs More than simply curing disease after it occurs and efforts to Tell it As a Cost cutting method Are ill advised. Clearly Good health does have intrinsic value and is Worth paying for she said. And it docs Cost Money. Choosing invest ment in prevention is thus an economic Choice like any other. Prevention offers Good things at some additional Cost. The gains must be balanced Aga into the costs to decide whether a partic ular preventive measure is a Good invest  the Brookings study released tuesday by the Liberal Washington think tank comes As National health experts Are looking for ways to hold Down the Cost of health care. It attempts to demolish one of the favor Ite arguments of preventive Medicine sup porters that it s cheaper to prevent Dis ease than to cure it making preventive Medicine the most effective Way to reduce National health care costs. It s not that simple said Russell a senior fellow in the Brookings economic studies program. Preventing disease involves risks As Well As benefits although the risks Are usually Low she said. And even when the Finan Cial Cost of the preventive measure looks Small careful evaluation often shows that the full costs Are rather Large larger than any savings. In fact prevention usually adds to med ical  she added that such arguments May themselves discredit preventive Medicine by raising false Hopes for the practice while ignoring the real benefits of prevention. If the claims that prevention is cheaper Are generally untrue and the available evidence indicates they Are they May Lead to an unwarranted disenchantment with prevention Russell writes. For even when prevention does not save Money it can be a worthwhile investment in better health and this not Cost savings is the criterion on which it should be judged she said. The 129-Page study cites screening for High blood pressure As an example where prevention upon close examination May be More costly than cure. On first glance Russell said High blood deadly conspirators lifestyle genetics q Quality of health services in percent responsible for fatal illness heart disease Chat go Tribune orate source or. Stavan  pressure screening should be the most Cost effective form of Medicine. The screening test is Quick and inexpensive and it Huncov Eri a life threatening disease. But it is More expensive than it appears she said. The current recommendation is a test every year or two making the total Cost substantial even if each individual test is cheap. Anyone with High pressure must undergo repeated tests to be sure the first is not a Fluke she said. And if hypertension u con firmed the usual treatment is drug therapy daily pills for the rest of the patient s life. Voucher plan would let poor parents shop for schools Washington a Secretary of education Wil Liam j. Bennett wednesday asked Congress to give vouch ers Worth up to j600 to parents of poor children so they can shop for the Best possible schools for their children Public or private. Bennett said vouchers could improve opportunities for millions of Young  he predicted the vouchers would Spur a healthy rivalry among Public and private schools to provide a better education for the poor. This is a Good thing Bennett told a news conference. It will Lead to belter education services for these children and greater opportunities for them later in  the $3.6 billion in Federal remedial Aid called chapter one would still flow to local Public school districts but parents would have the right to demand that the school Issue them a voucher Worth up to $600. Provided they paid that much for tuition or remedial education or both. They then could take the voucher and spend it at any Public or private school they choose. Bennett likened vouchers to similar programs embody ing Choice ranging from the go Bill to Pell Grants for College students to education for handicapped  the proposal called the equity and Choice act is the latest and perhaps the most controversial step in the Reagan administration s efforts to give parents More Choice in education and to make Public schools compete for children. A copy of the draft Bill obtained in Advance by the associated press said the program s purposes were to improve the educational achievement of educationally deprived children by expanding opportunities for their Par ent to choose schools that Best meet their needs to Foster diversity and Competition. And increase private sector involvement in educating the poor. Bennett said it would give parents a ticket to find the Best possible schools for their children and the Best Possi ble  at present our More affluent families do exercise Choice by buying a Home in the neighbourhood of their Choice or by sending their children to a private school he said. The poor do not now have that kind of Choice. Yet it is their children for whom education May represent the Best Opportunity for Success in later  much of the Bill s language is directed at ensuring that vouchers Are not used to pay for tuition at any private school that practices racial discrimination. The private schools to qualify would have to file a verified statement that they have not followed a racially discriminatory policy during the previous 12  the attorney general would have exclusive authority to investigate the schools. Vouchers could not be used at schools that Federal courts found to be discriminatory. The Reagan administration made a half hearted at tempt in 1983 when . Bell was Secretary of education to seek voucher for the chapter one program. That plan was tabled after a single congressional hearing. The administration also has failed to persuade Congress to enact tuition tax credits of up to $300 for parents who Send their children to private schools. The voucher idea Long championed by conservative critics of Public schools has been Given new impetus by the recent supreme court decision Aguilar is. Fenton that barred Public schools from sending teachers into parochial schools to conduct remedial classes for disadvantaged  the Law still requires the government to provide Remedi Al services for eligible parochial school children but the 5 4 High court ruling in july hat forced Public and parochial school administrators to scramble for new ways to deliver the services outside parochial school Sites. Bennett contends that a voucher with the Aid passing through the parents hands and not directly from the government to parochial school administrators would pan constitutional Muster. Bennett told human events Magazine last month thai decision May actually unintentionally help us get closer to the voucher program in chapter one that we be Bee trying to gel for a couple of years. Etc Anu Cal already have a Choice a voucher if you will. It s the ability to choose the neighbourhood of their Choice and thereby the school of their Choice he Aid. Ine poor Many of whom arc very frustrated with the Quality of education that their children Are getting do not have that  i Tahr a 011 department cited a recent Gallup pol that found 59 percent of Blacki and 53 percent of Thoie jiving in Central cities support an educational voucher. The voucher funds would come out of the share of chapter one Money that now goes to local Public school districts. The districts still would get the Money but parents could get a voucher on demand. The maximum voucher would be for $600