Moridoy, July 26,1971 By Victor Cohn _ Washington Post atatt writer A. new health alliance will try, ta.add_a possible $1 billion to the $3.5 billion President Nixon. has ‘requested to battle disease and train doctors in the year that started this Month. "The push is the biggest in several years for money to c oning, Vener. eal disease, alcoholism, mental illness and other sicknesses and to.fund a major increase in health manpower. The effort is separate from the struggle over national health insurance, which seems bogged down in a battle over costs that would make an extra $1 billion seem a drop in the bucket. Yet the administration, fac- ing a mounting deficit, is op- posing nearly every cent of this possible $1 billion, despite the health forces’ argument that research, development and training are vital to create the “health system” necessary to -make health insurance work, Alllance Leaders Among those in the new health alliance are nine mem- bers of the House Appropria- tions Committee led by Reps. Sidney Yates (D-Ill) and Sil- vio O. Conte (R-Mass.), They Will seek a floor fight Tuesday -to add $230 million to the $341 “million the committee has al- ready tacked on to the Nixon program. :Also involved are Sen. War- Yén (‘Magnuson (D-Wash.), whose Senate Health Appro- priations Subcommittee starts markups today, and Sen. Ed- ward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and. Rep. Paul Rogers (D-Fla.), THE WASHINGTON POST whose Senate and House health subcommittees have voted authorizing legislation to add $185 million (Rogers? figure) or $436 million (Kenne- dy’s) for manpower training to the $541 Mr. Nixon has pro- posed. These sums are due to be argued in conference Tuesday or Wednesday. Others in the group are Philanthropist Mary Lasker and her Washington base, the National Committee Against Mental Illness; the country's medical colleges, and a new “Coalition for Health Fund- ing,” made up of the Lasker and college groups, the Ameri- can Public Health Association, heart, dental and nurses’ asso- ciations and 11 other groups. Seeking to Piggyback Mrs. Lasker, the American Cancer Society and Senate al- lies led by Kennedy have al- ready pushed the administra- tion into adding $100 million for cancer research and pro- Posing a new cancer authority. Now the broader health forces ~— though some are less than happy about so large a cancer crusade — hope to piggyback on it to win funds to battle other diseases. They argue—as did a Friday statement by eight House Ap- propriations Committee Demo- crats — that even the commit- tee’s actions “do }ittle more than restore culs made by the administration below fiscal 1971 levels.” On lead poisoning of slum children, One of the nation's most neglected health prob- Jems, the eight said the com- mittee was providing just $5 million to fund a Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act and called the administra. tion's $2 million request °to-! tally inadequate.” The health eroup seeks $5 million more. measles vaccine, said the eight Democrats, “less than 50 per ceM® of the target population” On alcoholism, the commil-|(vouny children) “has been tee voted $25 million, com-| vaccinated: in some states the pared with what the eight/ figure is as low as 17 per Democrats call the administra-|cent." tion’s “inexplicable” zero for State programs to be led by a new National Institute an Al- cohol Abuse. The eight dissen- The group wants to add $100 million fo the committee’s $88.6 million increase to an ad- ministration $14 billion for ters — nine with Republican] the National Institutes of Conte — would add $15 mil | Health, which finances most lion more. of the country’s health gge- search, Building Fund The committee voted $872 million for bospital building and modernization, mainly re building crumbling structures: the administration asked no funds for such efforts. The nine want to add $50 million more. The group also would add sums for maternal and child care and contro! of infectious diseases. Despite federally financed development of a German ' Low Budgets Scored They argue: “Tt is primarily due ota heart) disease that America trails 17 other coun- tries in male Jongevity,” but “restrictive budgets have com- pelled the National Heart In- stitute to cut back an the num- ber of its major research proj- ects" They also sav: "More than 20 million people are affected diseases as stroke, retardation, cerebral by such mental ealth Alliance Seeks Extra $1 Billion palsy, multiple sclerosis, mus- cular dystrophy, deafness, epi- lepsy and congenital deformi- ties,” but “for some strange reason the President's budget has given the National Insti- tute of Neurological Diseases and Strokes the sharpest per- centave cut of all the insti- tutes.” The House nine do not really expect to win a House vote. Bul an impressive vote, they feel, would influence House conferees when they fi- nally face Senate conferees — always more health minded — over final research and train- ing funds. One administration health official said last week: “I think we're going to see a lot of health money voted this year that the White House didn't plan on, at least $500 million.” “The President gave a bold-sounding health mes- Sage, but the program will really belong to Congress.”