Today's opinions and editorials

The True Costs Of Reform Kaiser Health News
[I]t's virtually impossible to design a reform scheme that doesn't, in the early stages, involve at least some transfer of money away from the healthy and wealthy. The point of insurance is to pool risk, bringing in contributions from relatively healthy people, so that medical bills don't fall too heavily on the sick (Jonathan Cohn, 12/7).

Health Reform Could Harm Medicaid Patients The Wall Street Journal
We at Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM) endorse efforts to improve the quality and reduce the cost of health care. But we also understand all too well the impact a dramatic expansion of Medicaid will have on us and our state—and likely the country as a whole (Edward Miller, 12/4).

Medicaid: Protect Basic Health Services, But Trim Elsewhere Des Moines Register
When the state is facing huge revenue shortfalls, it is impossible to hold [Medicaid] harmless. Health spending comprises more than 15 percent of Iowa's operating budget - close to $1 billion state dollars each year. Without more financial help from the federal government - which Congress should provide - state lawmakers will likely need to find ways to trim the program (12/6).

CEOs And ObamaCare The Wall Street Journal
[S]lowly as the legislative details become clear, it is dawning on executives of businesses large and small that reform is boiling down to a huge tax increase to finance a gigantic new entitlement (12/6).

The Doctor Drought Forbes
Quality of care will diminish along with the availability of our latest technologies, which only specialists are trained to administer. I believe nurse practitioners are useful, but I also believe my four years of medical school and three years of residency count for something. If primary care doctors become extinct, so will the kind of care our patients are used to receiving (Marc Siegel, 12/4).

Health-Care Nation The Washington Post
The most obvious characteristic of health spending is that government can't control it. The reason is public opinion. We all want the best health care for ourselves and loved ones. … Unfortunately, what we all want as individuals may harm us as a nation (Robert J. Samuelson, 12/7).

You Call This A Compromise? CBS News
[T]he new compromise proposals are anything but. They represent calls for advocates of the public plan to eat their crumbs and be happy. But a majority of Senators support the public plan (Jacob Hacker 12/7).