Daily Rounds: War Room For Health Ruling; The Vagina Comments; Safety Pool Cash Drain; Hep. C Mishap In Court

With Justices Set To Rule On Health Law, 2 Parties Strategize (The New York Times) — "The Republican National Committee, in consultation with Congressional campaign offices and Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, is readying a war room. The National Republican Congressional Campaign has mounted a petition drive for repeal, complete with a function to allow signers to watch their faxed petitions arrive over the Internet. At the White House, which has much riding on the case, top officials continue to project confidence that the court will rule in its favor and that the administration will move on to put the law into force. But White House allies and advocates of the new law do not necessarily share that view and are gearing up in the event of an unfavorable decision...House Democrats have been issued a “pocket card” to carry with them, spelling out in big numbers how the law has already helped people: 86 million who have received free preventive care, 105 million who no longer face a lifetime cap on benefits, and as many as 17 million children who can no longer be denied coverage because of pre-existing health conditions."

Michigan State Rep. Barred From Speaking After 'Vagina' Comments (NPR) — "Brown, a Democrat, argued that her Jewish faith allowed for therapeutic abortions when the mother's life is in danger without regard to length of pregnancy. "I have not asked you to adopt and adhere to my religious beliefs. Why are you asking me to adopt yours?" she said. But what came next is what got her in trouble: "And finally, Mr. Speaker, I'm flattered that you're all so interested my vagina, but 'no' means 'no.'"

$118M Dip From Health Pool Ripped (The Boston Herald) — "Illegal aliens, out-of-staters and others who failed to produce proof of Massachusetts residency drained $118 million from the pool of cash the state uses to reimburse hospitals and clinics that care for the poor in the latest year on record, state officials say. The report, a letter from Health and Human Services Commissioner Aron Boros last week to an Andover lawmaker who has been dogging the state for health cost data, says people without documents racked up $118 million in medical bills from October 2010 through September 2011, paid for through the state’s Health Safety Net program — funded by taxpayers, insurance ratepayers and hospitals and intended for the state’s indigent residents."

NH AG Investigates Hepatitis C Cases; Suit Filed (AP via The Boston Globe) — "The probe into a hepatitis C outbreak at Exeter Hospital's cardiac catheterization lab reached the courts Thursday, with the attorney general's office announcing a criminal investigation and a civil lawsuit being filed on behalf of one of the infected patients. Twenty people, including a hospital worker, have been diagnosed with the same strain of the liver-destroying virus since state public health officials began investigating last month. On Wednesday, public health director Dr. Jose Montero said evidence so far points to drug diversion as the likely cause, which generally involves someone using a syringe to inject medication meant for someone else and then re-using the syringe on patients."