Today's Opeds: Mini-meds, Ariz.'s anti-health mandate and are premium refunds a bad thing?

Health Care's Uneven Road To A New Era The New York Times
With each new disruption come loud claims — some from insurance executives — that the health overhaul is damaging American health care. ... But when you dig a little deeper, you often discover the same lesson that the McDonald's case provides: the real problem was the status quo (David Leonhardt, 10/5).

Insurance Is A Strange Model For Health Care (Minneapolis-St. Paul) Star Tribune
Using an insurance model for basic and essential health care also doesn't make any sense (Edward Ehlinger, 10/5).

This Amendment Is Bad Medicine The Arizona Republic
Arizonans should be leery of efforts to use state constitutional amendments to wage battles that should be fought elsewhere. Proposition 106, limiting health-care mandates, is a case in point (10/6).

BCBSNC's Premium Refunds Show The Perils Of ObamaCare Charlotte Observer
Some of the worst news for President Barack Obama's beleaguered health care law comes from North Carolina. Yet the law's supporters are treating it like good news (Michael Cannon, 10/6).

The Emerging ObamaCare Massacre Investor's Business Daily
But, as IBD has noted before, since when has health care reform been about evidence? It has always been about power — the power politicians have over insurance companies, doctors, hospitals and, ultimately, patients (David Hogberg, 10/4).

Three Years To Get Fleeced If You Buy Your Own Health Insurance Forbes
Emily Friedman, a writer who regretfully buys her own insurance, has published an interesting first-person essay. ... Her premium keeps going up despite the fact the she doesn't need much care (David Whelan, 10/5).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.