Friday opinions: Mandate to buy insurance; Medicare and 'political game'

Nudging People to Buy Health Insurance The New York Times
If Americans want a private health insurance system that does not base the price of individually sold policies on that individual's health status and that does not allow an insurer to refuse to sell a policy because of an individual's health issues, then they should accept a mandate that all Americans purchase at least a minimum package of health insurance (Uwe Reinhardt, 6/25).

Don't Go Back: New Jersey Should Welcome HealthCare Reform, Not Try to Block It The Star-Ledger
The sticking point for [Governor] Christie and other conservatives is the requirement that everyone must purchase insurance. But that's the only way the law would work as intended, making health care coverage available for everyone. If the young and healthy can go without insurance, that drives up premiums for the less young and less healthy (6/25).

Health Reform Will Impact Existing Plans More Than Promised Time
Now that regulations about existing employer-sponsored plans have been issued, it's becoming clear that many of the 160 million Americans with job-based coverage will not, in fact, be able to keep what they currently have (Kate Pickert, 6/24).

Political Game Harms Medicare The Lincoln Journal Star
Congress this week reached an atrocious new low in its recent handling of Medicare reimbursements to physicians. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services this week began enforcing a 21 percent cut in physician Medicare payments. An estimated 50 million claims were affected. The scale of the disruption, although temporary, is unprecedented (6/25).