Viewpoints: Sebelius on 'essential benefits'; WSJ columnist on Democrats' 'Mediscare' argument - is it a lie?

Jan 5 2012

USA Today: In Defense Of Health Care Law's 'Essentials' 
Insurance needs and health systems vary state to state, and experience tells us that the best way forward is not to mandate a one-size-fits-all answer. Instead, our approach gives states the flexibility to take their own paths, while ensuring they all end up in the best place possible: with an Affordable Insurance Exchange that offers access to comprehensive, quality, affordable health insurance to small business owners and individuals who currently have few good choices in an expensive and broken market (Kathleen Sebelius, 1/3). 

The Wall Street Journal: Bad-Faith Journalism 
PolitiFact's "Lie of the Year" ... manages to generate a lot of chatter. ... the St. Petersburg Times's self-styled "fact checking" operation, which usually leans left, tacked to the right, naming as its "Lie" the claim that "Republicans voted to end Medicare." The reference is to Rep. Paul Ryan's reform proposal. ... Now, as it happens, we are on the same side as PolitiFact when it comes to the Democrats' Mediscare tactics. In our opinion, the cited criticisms of the Ryan plan are tendentious and misleading. But we can't agree that they amount to a lie (James Taranto, 1/3).

Los Angeles Times: Her Case Shows Why Healthcare Privacy Laws Exist
Of all the personal information that you might want to keep private, your medical records are the most important. That's why federal and state laws carry stiff penalties, up to and including jail time, for healthcare providers who let such data loose into the wild (Michael Hiltzik, 1/4).

Los Angeles Times: Is It Time To Ban Cosmetic Surgery?
The faulty breast implants made by the French company Poly Implants Protheses, or PIP, have grabbed headlines around the world in recent weeks, and it's no wonder. The prostheses are more prone to rupture than other models, and they contain an industrial grade of silicone never intended for use in a medical device. ... But the scandal also raises a more basic question: Are the risks of any aesthetic surgery acceptable? (Alexander Edmonds, 1/4). 

Denver Post: Give Romney A Fair Shake
Romney not only thrived in the private economy, he also mostly defended it from a hostile legislature during his tenure as Massachusetts governor. The great exception to his record was of course creation of the prototype for Obamacare -; which Romney still defends. This stubbornness no doubt undermines his overall effectiveness as Obama's opponent -; and perhaps seriously so. But the idea that Romney's health-care blunder defines him as a big-government technocrat just isn't fair (Vincent Carroll, 1/4).

Georgia Health News: New Tort System Is Needed
Lawmakers in Georgia and Florida will soon consider a proposal to replace the current tort system with one similar to the workers' compensation system, which has been around for a century. … By eliminating defense costs and providing consistency in the claims process, the Patients' Compensation System would provide compensation to more injured patients and their families (Doug Wojcieszak, 1/3). 

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: State Should Plan For Health Care Reform
[I]t is highly irresponsible for (Gov. Scott) Walker to suspend planning of reforms that could increase access to affordable coverage, end discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions and create new tools for controlling costs. Whether his motivation is political or he is merely carrying water for the health insurance industry, it is reckless to suspend planning for reform without any public discussion and without developing any serious alternative to a status quo that is not working for Wisconsin (Robert Kraig, 1/3).

Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine: When Will Routine Testing for Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection Be the Routine for Adolescents? 
[T]he fact that only 17.9% of sexually experienced adolescent males and only 27.5% of sexually experienced adolescent females have ever been tested for HIV is disturbing. It speaks to major deficiencies in our approach to the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents and young adults, and it stands as a rather stark explanation for the otherwise puzzling discrepancy in the percentage of youth who are infected (Dr. Lawrence J. D'Angelo, 1/2).