Viewpoints: Health law undercuts labor markets; the surprising foes on Calif. Prop 45

Bloomberg: Obamacare Is A Job-Slashing, Deficit-Deepening Disaster
A report out today from the Republican staff of the Senate Budget Committee highlights a critical point about Obamacare: The law's negative effect on labor markets helps explain why it will increase deficits by $131 billion over the next 10 years. This finding stands in stark contrast to Democrats' repeated assertions that the law will reduce the deficit. The public dialogue on Obamacare has thus far largely focused on how the law affects premiums and limits access to certain health insurance plans or doctors. While these side-effects are troublesome, it is perhaps more significant that Obamacare has had -- and will continue to have -- a substantial impact on labor markets, jobs and the budget picture (Lanhee Chen, 10/14).

Los Angeles Times: Obama: Messiah Or Mess?
The initial rollout of the Obamacare website was a managerial disaster, for which he bears responsibility, but the Affordable Care Act has already brought perhaps 10 million people into insured healthcare or Medicaid for the first time (Timothy Garton Ash, 10/14). 

Los Angeles Times: Covered California Becomes A Prime Target In Proposition 45 Debate
Proposition 45 would extend the regulatory power that Proposition 103 gave the state Insurance Commissioner over property and casualty coverage to a new branch of the insurance market: the health policies sold to individuals and small groups. So it's no surprise that the Proposition 45 campaign would turn into a reprise of 1988's battle over Proposition 103, pitting the consumer advocates at Consumer Watchdog against big insurance companies. What has been surprising is the degree to which the campaign has devolved into a fight between Consumer Watchdog and Covered California (Jon Healey, 10/14). 

The New York Times' The Upshot: Egg Freezing As A Work Benefit? Some Women See Darker Message
Tech companies are famous for their lavish benefits, like in-office haircuts, dry cleaning and massages. Now some of those companies are setting off a debate about women and work with a new benefit -; paying for women on the payroll to freeze their eggs. ... Yet by paying for women to delay pregnancy, are employers helping them achieve that balance -; or avoiding policies that experts agree would greatly help solve the problem, like paid family leave, child care and flexible work arrangements? (Claire Cain Miller, 10/14).

Los Angeles Times: Supreme Court Should Put A Stop To The Relentless Attacks On Abortion
In 1973, the Supreme Court held in Roe vs. Wade that women have a fundamental, constitutional right to an abortion, as long as that right is balanced against the state's interest in protecting prenatal life and a woman's health. In 1992, a second decision held that although the government could put some reasonable restrictions on abortion, it could not place an "undue burden" on a woman's right to choose. And yet many of the 230 restrictive laws enacted in 30 states since 2011 have been specifically designed to circumvent those two rulings (10/14). 

USA Today: Health Care Cartels Limit Americans' Options
Defenders of these [certificate of need] laws claim they reduce health care costs by avoiding duplication of medical equipment and services, or that they increase charity care. The reality is that the laws "result in fewer beds and hospitals operating in the typical" metropolitan area, according to the Journal of Health Care Finance. A new study from George Mason University's Mercatus Center finds that the laws restrict access to health care while slowing the adoption of new technology. A review of the economic literature in the study shows that CON laws are likely to result in higher costs and provide no extra services for the indigent (Thomas Stratmann and Darpana M. Sheth, 10/14). 

Southtown Star/Chicago Sun Times: The Cost Of Saving On Mental Health Care
When I saw the news release about a Cook County Board hearing today to "look into mental health needs and services," I was sort of surprised. Surprised because it has been my experience that hardly anyone in this state cares very much about the needs of the mentally ill as long as such people don't shoot them while they're eating burgers at a McDonald's. Since the closing of the Tinley Park Mental Health Center in 2012, Cook County Jail has become the largest facility treating mentally ill patients in Illinois. The city of Chicago shut down six of its 12 mental health clinics around the same time. Other than mental health advocates and a few medical professionals, few people noticed or cared (Phil Kadner, 10/14).