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With voters increasingly tuning into the final phase of the 2016 election, it’s time for Republicans and Democrats to start thinking critically about health care and its importance to every American, regardless of party. (Douglas E. Schoen, 10/4)

When the Medicare Modernization Act created a new drug benefit and the Medicare Advantage programs, there were literally thousands of new health plans that were formed to offer these benefits. Many were brand-new insurance carriers started by investors. No such outcome met the start of Obamacare. The initial launch of the exchanges was marked by a relatively cautious response from the big, existing carriers. (Scott Gottlieb, 10/3)

It’s that time of year again. Insurance companies that participate in the Affordable Care Act’s state health exchanges are signaling that prices will rise dramatically this fall. And if insurance costs aren’t enough of a crisis, researchers are highlighting deficiencies in health care quality, such as unnecessary tests and procedures that cause patient harm, medical errors bred by disjointed or fragmented care and disparities in service distribution. (Christy Ford Chapin, 10/4)

Ah, but Mr. Kaine protests! He is not pro-choice; he is “personally opposed.” But what can this mean? For Mr. Kaine, it meant a giant evolution once he reached the Senate. There he opposed limits he once supported as governor, fighting efforts to cut off tax dollars for Planned Parenthood, voting against a 20-week abortion ban, and co-sponsoring legislation aimed at nullifying state laws limiting abortion. Now he is running on a ticket committed to overturning the Hyde amendment’s restrictions on federal funding. Small wonder both Planned Parenthood and Naral Pro-Choice America now deem his voting record 100% pro-choice. (William McGurn, 10/3)

Doctors don’t vote — at least not enough. We’re less likely to vote than lawyers, other professionals, farmers, and the general population. In some recent elections, less than one-third of doctors voted. It’s not clear why. Some doctors may simply be too busy and, without protected time from work, can’t get to the voting booth. Some may feel that caring for patients fulfills their sense of social purpose, making other forms of civic participation, like voting, seem less important. ... But an important disconnect should be highlighted: Physicians as a group are growing more liberal while those representing the profession in Congress are almost exclusively conservative. (Dhruv Khullar, 10/3)

While sexist banter during surgery may seem mostly harmless, the extent and frequency of it, and the aggression towards women it communicates, is a real problem. There are also insidious, subtle signals that female physicians contend with daily. My young female colleagues and I are constantly mistaken for nurses by patients and visitors, only because we’re women. We are referred to as “girls” by patients and medical colleagues alike, while our male counterparts are “young men” or just “men.” The most disheartening sexist assumptions are the ones I make, though — I find myself unthinkingly asking patients, “Who is your primary care doctor, and do you have his phone number?” Even as a physician myself, I have somehow internalized the idea that the profession still belongs to men. (Allyson Herbst, 10/4)

More than five decades have passed since New York state first enacted something called a certificate-of-need law (CON) in an effort to curb rising health care costs. Such laws, now enforced in 35 states and the District of Columbia, require providers to first seek permission from their state’s government before opening a new practice, expanding services and making certain investments in devices and medical technology. ... Because these programs were well-intentioned and are rather innocuous-looking, however, health care reformers have a tendency to focus their efforts on other issues, and certificate-of-need laws have been given little attention. (Christopher Koopman and Thomas Stratmann, 10/3)

A growing proportion of Medicare beneficiaries are opting out of the government-run insurance program. They are instead choosing a private plan alternative, one of the Medicare Advantage plans. The strength of this trend defies predictions from the Congressional Budget Office, and nobody can fully explain it. Here’s another mystery. Traditional Medicare spending growth has slowed, bucking historical trends and expectations. Though there are theories, we don’t fully know what’s causing that either. (Austin Frakt, 10/3)

The goal of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ competitive bidding program for home medical equipment was to reduce beneficiary out-of-pocket expenses and reduce Medicare costs while ensuring beneficiary access to quality items and services. Since the program’s January 2011 pilot launch in nine test markets, Medicare continues to report that the program has saved millions of dollars with no disruption of beneficiary access to needed products and supplies and no harm to patients. This is a lie. (Christopher Parkin, 10/3)

Arbitration clauses are virtually inescapable in today's society. You frequently give up your right to sue when you sign the paperwork to rent a car, secure cell phone service, open a bank account or buy a home. Some companies require them as a condition of employment. But such agreements have no place in senior living facilities. Vulnerable people should not leave their constitutional rights at the nursing home door. And because arbitration is a secretive process, it allows homes to keep embarrassing wrongdoing under wraps, which has troubling implications for public safety. ... Fortunately, the Obama administration knows facilities entrusted with the care of frail, disabled people should be held accountable if residents are harmed. (10/3)

Recovery from illnesses following hospital care varies in duration, but one thing is certain: Making sure that patients receive the right care after they leave the hospital has a dramatic impact on a patient's well-being, prognosis and outcome, and it is a major ingredient in Maryland's transformation of health care. (Carmela Coyle and Hank Greenberg, 10/3)

Blatant price-gouging by EpiPen-maker Mylan and other pharmaceutical companies has stoked public outrage about the high cost of prescription drugs. Meanwhile, the emergence of a new class of exceptionally expensive specialty drugs has caused budget nightmares for state governments. But in California, even modest efforts to require drugmakers to reveal more about how they set their prices have been stymied by lawmakers sympathetic to the industry. (10/4)

Politicians in the nation’s capital will vote this week on a physician-assisted death bill, a measure that cuts to the core of human nature, dignity and civilization. If it passes, the bill would allow a competent adult patient who has been diagnosed with an illness that will be fatal within six months (who is not under readily identifiable coercion and is not clinically depressed) to request and receive a prescription from a licensed D.C. physician and D.C. pharmacist to end the patient’s life. (Allen Roberts and Scott Redd, 10/4)

Fighting opioid abuse seems to be an issue both sides can agree on. The current state budget includes increased funding to treat 11,000 more addicts. It is gratifying to see Pennsylvania and other states turn from the "crack wars" mentality of the past, which too often put jailing addicts above helping them. (10/3)