Today's opinions and editorials

No Time For Pandering Policies The (Miss.) Clarion Ledger
There are those who would like to turn the nation's vexing struggle to find health care reforms into a state's rights argument. Why? It diverts attention from the fact that the current public health care system isn't working (9/30).

A Dose Of Common Sense The Philadelphia Inquirer
Insurance companies and Medicare pay American hospitals and doctors to perform procedures. But they pay almost nothing for listening, talking, and thinking. Ordering a new test is much easier than thinking about or discussing the results of yesterday's test (Lawrence Blum, 9/30).

If Physicians Led Reform The (Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer
Strategic innovation has the potential to change the dynamics of health-care delivery and leave patients and providers better off. These examples of physician-led innovation are just a few of many that will be tried (Marco Huesch, 9/30).

Now Is Not The Time For Compromise On Health Care Fox News
All too often we hear our hopes for progress dismissed with a glib "can't happen." But as students and young professionals, we can, have, and will effect profound change (Iyah Romm, 9/30).

Why Obama Bombed On Health Care The Wall Street Journal
Team Obama also knew the public is concerned about rising costs, so they jammed together a hooey-filled argument that the public option was somehow the solution to rising costs (Holman Jenkins, 9/29).

Escape To Montana The Wall Street Journal
In other words, while Congress debates whether to set U.S. medicine on the Canadian path, Canadians are desperately seeking their own private option (9/30).

Why Health Plans Should Be More Like Fire Insurance The Washington Post
Everyone who buys fire insurance pays a premium calculated on the basis of a handful of factors that insurance companies use to estimate the probability of a fire (Steven Pearlstein, 9/30).

State Budgets Can't Afford A Public Option The Leigh Acres (Fla.) Citizen
But few observers have acknowledged another effect of the public option, one that would spell disaster for reeling state budgets: the public option will cause state tax revenues to plummet (Janet Trautwein, 9/30).

How A Tax Can Cut Health Costs The New York Times
The Cadillac tax has the potential to slow health costs significantly. But like every other idea to slow spending, it can also sound downright scary (David Leonhardt, 9/29).