Summaries of recent opinion pieces addressing health care appear below.Paul Krugman, New York Times: "Despite the failure of the attempt to control costs with HMOs, conservatives continue to believe that the magic of the private sector will provide the answer" to problems in the health care sector, Krugman writes in a Times opinion piece, concluding, "Eventually, we'll have to accept that ... health care -- including the decision about what treatment is provided -- is a public responsibility" (Krugman, New York Times, 12/26/05).

E.J. Dionne, Washington Post: Differing approaches to Medicaid funding in the House and Senate are one example of how "almost every choice congressional leaders made favored the interest groups" when it came time for Congress to "meld" federal budget proposals, Dionne writes in a Post opinion piece (Dionne, Washington Post, 12/27/05).

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), Chicago Sun-Times: More U.S. residents and all children could have access to affordable health care if Congress passed the All Kids Health Insurance Coverage Act, Durbin and Emanuel write in a Sun-Times opinion piece. According to Durbin and Emanuel, the legislation would provide states with incentives to "simplify and streamline" their SCHIP programs to expand enrollment to cover two-thirds of all uninsured children. In addition, they write that the legislation would expand SCHIP eligibility to more than two million who currently do not qualify for the program (Durbin/Emanuel, Chicago Sun-Times, 1/1).

Bob Herbert, New York Times: The recently passed budget reconciliation bill would allow states to "jack up" premiums and co-payments for millions of Medicaid beneficiaries and reduce some benefits, Times columnist Herbert writes in an opinion piece. According to Herbert, "One of the worst aspects of the Medicaid provisions" included in the bill is that "large numbers of poor people, faced with the higher premiums and co-payments, will inevitably decide to take a pass on the health care they need" (Herbert, New York Times, 1/2).

Robert Samuelson, Washington Post: As baby boomers reach retirement age, "their huge federal retirement benefits may seriously damage the economy and American politics," Samuelson writes in a Post opinion piece. According to Samuelson, if Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are "left alone," they "would require massive tax increases, cause immense deficits or crowd out other important government programs" (Samuelson, Washington Post, 12/28/05).

Clarence Page, Washington Times: The fiscal year 2006 federal budget package "does less to reduce the deficit than to shift its burden to poor and middle-class folks who, for example, need help paying for nursing homes or putting their kids through college, " Page writes in a Times opinion piece (Page, Washington Times, 12/30).

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