Today's Opinions and Editorials: Bringing down health care costs; More on the Medicare trustees report

A Bitter Health Care Pill The Boston Globe
Short of transforming the medical payment system, can we bring down health care costs by feasible fixes? Yes, by reducing the number of services that must be covered by every insurance policy and requiring higher copayments for patients using the highest cost providers (Robert Pozen, 8/10).

Obamacare Critics -- Be Careful What You Wish For AOL News
Though you wouldn't know it from listening to the talking heads on either side of the debate, federal health care reform was actually designed to strengthen the private health insurance market. It did so through the following deal: Health insurers would no longer be allowed to deny people for pre-existing conditions (Micah Weinberg, 8/9).

The Four Essential Problems With the Patient Fox News
The biggest problem with Obamacare is that it is not about health care, it is all about health insurance. Dean is right when he says that people are balking at the concept of being forced to carry health insurance, which doesn't guarantee you health care (Marc Siegel, 8/10).

The Latest on Medicare and Social Security The New York Times
Medicare is a thorny problem; Social Security, by comparison, is a cinch. More worrisome than either is the hyperpartisan atmosphere in Washington (8/9).

Debating The New Medicare Trustee Report Kaiser Health News
Bloggers are still buzzing about last week's report on the future of Medicare, which found that the new health overhaul law would extend the life of the trust fund by 12 years, to 2029 (Steadman, 8/9).

The Road To Quality, Affordable Health Care The Oregonian
Emergency medicine costs many times that of a visit to your doctor, but serves as primary care for many Americans. Emergency rooms are overburdened by non-emergent complaints like chronic back pain, sore throats, ingrown toenails, kids with low-grade fevers, dental pain, even prescription refills (Bart Monroe, 8/9).