Weekend Editorial Roundup

Here are the highlights from this weekend’s editorials on fiscal and budget policy:

• The New York Times applauds the House and Senate Finance bills for experimenting with innovations that would cut cost. The Times cites a report in the New England Journal of Medicine that says nearly all cost-saving innovations being discussed in the health policy literature are included in Congress’s proposed legislation.
• The Washington Post criticizes a rule in the House that ensures the upcoming “doc fix” legislation, which prevents scheduled cuts to physician Medicare payments, will not be paid for. The Post says it is hypocritical for politicians to praise the cost savings in the healthcare reform bill, while not allowing the cost of the “doc fix” to be offset.
• The Wall Street Journal decries Senator Reid’s plan to modify the healthcare reform legislation to replace a forty percent tax on expensive health insurance with a surcharge on the Medicare payroll tax. The Journal argues the tax on expensive health plans is preferable because it creates an incentive to reduce healthcare cost.
• The Wall Street Journal, responding to a leak from the White House that the Troubled Asset Relief Program might not be renewed, encouraged President Obama to do exactly that. Not renewing the program, The Journal insists, would be a good first step in slowing the growth of record deficits and debt.

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