Today’s Op-Eds: Health Insurers Pocket Profits, The GOP’s Answers To Health Reform, Taxing Cadillac Plans
Boehner's Health Delusion The Washington PostThe same swing voters who used the election to hurt the Democrats might learn that America's health-care system is No. 1 only in health-related bankruptcies. It is best in the world only for the rich and the amply insured. Everyone else can crawl away, unseen by the next speaker of the House of Representatives -- a jolly, detached fellow who thinks he lives in another country entirely (Richard Cohen, 11/9).
Health Insurers Sit Pretty At Their Customers' Expense The Los Angeles Times
This raises an interesting question about the looming reform of the nation's healthcare system, under which everyone will be required to have insurance. If available coverage is too pricey for people to use, will Americans be any better off, health-wise? While most insurance policies will cover catastrophic events, it's entirely possible that healthcare costs will be too high for the sort of routine care or preventive treatment that can head off illnesses before they become debilitating (David Lazarus, 11/9).
Republicans Need To Show They Have Answers To The Questions Confronting The Nation The Seattle Times
The country needs fundamental tax reform rather than the permanent extension of the Bush tax cuts. It needs a health-care overhaul that doesn't merely return the system to the pre-Obamacare status quo. It needs a plan to slow the growth of Social Security and Medicare, not just a discretionary spending freeze. On many of these fronts, congressional Republicans will protest that there's nothing to be done so long as Barack Obama occupies the White House (Ross Douthat, 11/8).
Nobody's Using Their Health InsuranceBut HMOs Aren't Offering Refunds Forbes
According to HMO financial statements, it's hard to see the evidence of rising costs. It's easy to see the opposite: that HMO profitability is rising and and utilization falling. You'd think, in a truly competitive market, health plan members would get relief next yearnot higher rates (David Whelan, 11/8).
Without Health Care Reform, Catastrophe Awaits The Huffington Post
Health care should be a right for all Americans. This is how health care is viewed by many nations outside our borders. But with the likes of [Speaker-elect John] Boehner and [Senate Minority Leader Mitch] McConnell steering the Republican juggernaut now, millions more Americans than present will no longer be able to stay healthy, or continue to be sick and ill (Miles J. Zaremski, 11/8).
Obamacare Drops First Shoe The Trentonian
Yes, ObamaCare does do some good. But we could have gotten where we needed to go by prudent, less costly and less intrusive streps, such as tort reform, national health insurance-company competition and government health-care subsidies gradually redirected from employers to individuals (Jay Ambrose, 11/8).
Controlling Health Care Costs Is Critical The Des Moines Register
Beginning in 2018, the health reform law imposes a hefty tax on these plans to encourage companies and workers to chose more cost-efficient options instead. It's the right idea. (Sen. Chuck) Grassley used to think so, too (11/9).
Common-Sense Medicine National Review
In the brave new world of Obamacare, I fear that there will be too much focus on using insufficient evidence to try to deny essential tests. Medicine is an art when it is practiced properly; I need the best tools possible to treat and cure difficult cases (Dr. Marc Siegel, 11/8). This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.