Viewpoints: GOP Could Soon Face A Dilemma On Health Law; Midterm Effect On Medicaid

Politico: Why The GOP Won't Touch Obamacare
After six years of railing against Obamacare, here’s the sum total of what Republicans are likely to do if they win control of the Senate: Little, if anything. Obamacare has been Republicans’ favorite whipping boy even before it became law in 2010. They’ve used it time and again on the campaign trail to fire up voters against the White House and Democrats in Congress. But now that they seem poised to begin doing something about it, they will have to face a new reality: The Affordable Care Act is here to stay and Republicans will be political losers if they mess with it too much. (Richard Kirsch, 11/3)

Modern Healthcare: Republican Lawmakers, Be Careful What You Wish For
Some Republican governors and U.S. senators are going to have a major Obamacare dilemma on their hands if they wake up Wednesday morning and find that their party controls Congress. Congressional Republicans repeatedly have vowed to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Sen. Mitch McConnell, (R-Ky.), who the polls show is likely to be re-elected and become the next Senate majority leader, was forced by conservatives last week to retract his statement that a Republican Congress would not be able to repeal the law. (Harris Meyer, 11/3)

Bloomberg: Health Care Everyone Can Agree On
Republicans and Democrats have little occasion to agree on anything in these toxic times. Nowhere are their differences more acute than on health-care policy. ... Yet it is still possible to make progress on changes that will improve the health-care system. Disagreements about the future of Obamacare need not stop us from agreement in other areas. And it starts with emphasizing the role that states can and should play in slowing the increase in health-care costs. (Lanhee Chen and Topher Spiro, 11/3)

Forbes: Critiquing U.S. Health Care Critics
Let’s be clear. The American health care system has plenty of flaws. Regrettably, Obamacare will do little to correct those ills (and any impact it has on life expectancy will be vanishingly small). Indeed, in many respects this misguided law has simply lengthened the laundry list of problems needing fixing. But we surely cannot find a sensible solution until and unless both sides of the aisle are willing and able to soberly confront the reality of our current system’s performance without resorting to statistics that severely bend reality in a favored direction. For unless we can clearly see what our problems are, it is a safe bet we will never find sensible solutions. (Chris Conover, 10/30)

The Wall Street Journal: How The Midterms Factor Into Medicaid Expansion
A lot of attention has been paid to what a shift in control of the Senate in the midterms might mean for the Affordable Care Act and other big policy issues. As ACA implementation has shifted to the states, governor’s races may be just as important, particularly when it comes to whether states expand Medicaid. (Drew Altman, 11/3)

The New Republic: The Four Issues You Should Be Focusing On Besides The Senate
Technically, the Medicaid expansion is not on the ballot in any state. But it is effectively on the ballot through gubernatorial races around the country. In Maine, if Democrat Mike Michaud defeats Governor Paul LePage—a Republican committed to blocking the expansion—70,000 low-income Maine residents will receive Medicaid. The same scenario could play out in Wisconsin, where Governor Scott Walker has opposed the expansion. ... In Florida, Alaska, Kansas and Georgia, the election of Democratic or independent governors could bring those states closer to accepting the expansion. (Danny Vinik, 11/4)

Los Angeles Times: Voters Are Left In The Dark On Campaign Spending By Corporations
Voters are usually inclined to vote their pocketbooks. But that's become more difficult with every election, as the pocketbooks that carry the most weight aren't those of the individual voter, but corporations and plutocrats. ... The analogous cases on this year's ballot involve Propositions 45 and 46, which would both strengthen state regulations in healthcare. Accordingly, they've attracted stupendous contributions from corporate interests. Proposition 45 would give the state insurance commissioner much-needed authority to approve or reject health insurance rates in advance. The No on 45 war chest is nearly $57 million, the vast majority of which has come from insurers operating in the state such as Kaiser, Blue Shield and WellPoint. (Michael Hiltzik, 11/3)

The New York Times' Taking Note: Abortion, Marijuana And The Minimum Wage: Ballot Measures Around The Country
Tuesday’s voting will not only determine control of the Senate, but the fate of important ballot initiatives in several states. ... Ballot initiative aimed at ending or severely curtailing womens’ access to safe and legal abortion care will be contributing to the election night drama in three states: Colorado, North Dakota and Tennessee. (11/3)

Los Angeles Times: Politicians Stoking Ebola Fears Are A Bigger Threat Than The Disease
[C]ivil liberties and rationality do not seem to count for much to politicians and public authorities who refuse to believe medical science or simply want to enhance their own public standing. California congressman Darell Issa, the Republican chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, opened hearings into the Ebola problem by repeatedly mispronouncing the name of one of the countries most affected by the disease – he kept saying “Guayana,” a nation in South America, instead of Guinea, a center of the outbreak in West Africa. He also mispronounced the name of the disease, calling it “eboli,” perhaps confusing it with E-coli. Despite those errors, he spoke as if he knew what he was talking about when he asserted that a person can get Ebola from sitting next to someone on a bus. ... the disease is not spread until it reaches an acute level. That fact did not preclude New York Republican Rep. Peter King from going on talk radio to speculate that Ebola was somehow becoming airborne or Kentucky’s junior Republican senator, Rand Paul, from alleging the disease could be served up at cocktail parties with the martinis and cosmopolitans. (David Horsey, 11/3)

The New York Times: Fighting An Epidemic With Hands Tied
Hundreds of government and civilian workers of all stripes, and thousands of military personnel, have braved the terrifying prospect of infection to respond to the Ebola emergency in West Africa. And thousands more will be needed for an effort that is expected to go well into 2015. But will they go? Beyond the obvious dangers to health care workers — more than 270, mostly African, have died so far this year — a host of obstacles stand in the way of anyone who may want to help stem a catastrophe.(Lawrence K. Altman M.D., 11/3)

The New York Times: Guns And Public Health
Mike Weisser is my favorite gun dealer. ... There’s something else about Weisser: He strongly believes that the country needs a new approach to guns and gun violence — an approach that is more data-driven, less hyperbolic, and that emphasizes the public health aspect of gun violence. Using the pen name Mike the Gun Guy, Weisser writes a blog at The Huffington Post that encapsulates his approach. He is one of the few who has focused on suicides, which make up nearly two-thirds of all gun deaths. He has called out gun control advocates from time to time; he mainly thinks they are too often passive when confronted with the tactics of the National Rifle Association. (Joe Nocera, 11/3)

The New York Times' The Upshot: Malpractice Reform Won’t Do Much To Reduce Health Spending
Among the many ideas that have been tossed around for decades on how to bring down health care spending, none may be as well known as malpractice reform. Many people believe that it’s the key to removing waste from the health care system and making the practice of medicine better. But a growing body of evidence shows that belief is most likely mistaken. (Aaron E. Carroll, 11/3)

The Baltimore Sun: VA Maryland Health Care System Is Ready To Help
Veterans Day we salute and honor the men and women who have served in the United States armed forces. It's a day we reflect on the contributions and sacrifices of service members and their families and demonstrate that our gratitude toward veterans is more than mere words. On Veterans Day, ceremonies are held across the country as we pause to honor those patriots who have safeguarded our liberty. From Bunker Hill to Baghdad, we are the beneficiaries of their vigilance and determination to uphold the democratic beliefs on which our nation was founded. What better way to thank veterans than to make sure they receive the care and support they need when they need it? (Dennis H. Smith, 11/3)