Today's OpEds: U.S. vs. Nordic health care; Medicare solvency; Patients and health costs; Mystery of ACOs

The Wrong Prescription Chicago Tribune
Beginning, like the United States, with excellent intentions, [each of the Nordic countries'] health care system evolved similarly. Initially, all care was covered. But costs rose. The government covered fewer illnesses. Expensive treatments increased government spending. ... This is not an evolution that the U.S. can avoid (Mark B. Constantian, 8/8).

Richard Foster For President The Wall Street Journal
During the ObamaCare debate, Mr. Foster was honest enough from his Medicare perch to expose the plan's true costs, and his new Medicare demarche continues this public service. He ought to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, or at least some media attention (8/8).

Patients Must Know Costs Of Medical Procedures The [N.J.] Star-Ledger
One of the steadfast hallmarks of capitalism has been the almighty price tag. Businesses have thrived in part by providing the best price. Companies that can't show value are quickly overshadowed and eventually eliminated by their competition (Wendy Ebner, 8/8).

Happy Birthday, Medicare Mercury News
Although every senior in the United States grew up without Medicare, most Americans today accept this single-payer, government-created and government-administered system as one of their rights as citizens, much like the right to vote (Joan Aragone, 8/8).

Congress Must Fix Docs' Pay Gap For Good The Billings (Mont.) Gazette
Incredibly, in a year in which health care policy debates already have consumed so much of lawmaker's time and produced far-reaching new law, a major Medicare payment problem remains unresolved (8/8).

ACOs: A mystery of biblical proportion Modern Healthcare
Everyone—including the federal lawmakers who crafted the healthcare reform law—thinks they know what an ACO is basically supposed to look like. How many people have actually seen one, though? ... for an idea that's supposed to hold the promise of revolutionizing healthcare finance, ACOs had no shortage of detractors and skeptics at the American Hospital Association meeting (Joe Carlson, 8/9).