Viewpoints: 'No Cash, No Insurance, No Live'; Medicaid expansion is a good option; Eradicating polio

Des Moines Register: A Modest Proposal For U.S. Health Care
With all the talk about health care recently, I'm surprised that no one has challenged the crazy idea that hospitals should treat people who can't pay. This is a free market nation, dammit! The home of "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Dice" in store windows should have "No Cash, No Insurance, No Live" on our hospital doors (Mike Draper, 7/24).

Bloomberg: States Will Not Turn Down Obamacare's Medicaid Expansion
If state governments become politically unable to drop expanded Medicaid, it will only be because the state's residents consider the program a good use of taxpayer money. That hardly seems like a big risk. But if any people are really concerned, they should vote for Mitt Romney, who ran for governor in 2002 with the position that the federal government should take on a larger share of Medicaid costs in order to relieve state budgets. He is sure to stand in the way of any efforts, Republican or Democratic, to shift Medicaid costs to the states (Josh Barro, 7/24).

The Dallas Morning News: Legislators Must First Retire Medicaid Debt
Rectifying Medicaid's problem before taking care of other needs probably won't please superintendents, teachers and parents. Texas' public schools took a serious hit in last year's Legislature, to the tune of at least $4 billion. ... But the state's health budget comes first. Texas can't cut corners on its Medicaid payments (Carl P. Leubsdorf, 7/24).

The Wall Street Journal: How To Eradicate Polio Once And For All
Earlier this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) removed India from the list of polio-endemic countries, a victory that involved 2.4 million volunteers administering vaccines to nearly 172 million children. Only three endemic countries remain - Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria - and the 24-year global effort to eradicate the disease is now within striking distance of its goal. But the entire campaign could come undone if obstacles to vaccination stall further progress (Jay Winsten and Emily Serazin, 7/24).

The Wall Street Journal: The Tax Cliff Endangers Seniors
Most people know that the U.S. government is rapidly approaching the edge of a fiscal cliff that will raise taxes for millions of Americans - at every income level and age. What is less known is that seniors, many of whom depend on investment income to fund their retirement, will be hurt the most (Lewis Hay III, 7/24).