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The Republican leadership seems to have thrown in the towel on repealing the Affordable Care Act, at least for now. That’s one piece of good news. Here’s another: Two senators of different parties have resumed negotiations that offer a more productive path, one that could preserve the best of Obamacare while offering adjustments that both parties can accept. (10/2)

In grade school, a teacher made kids who got in trouble go to the blackboard and write multiple times: "I will not .... " It was my introduction to chalk. Here's a repeat reference to a lesson taught two decades ago by a Republican pollster, the late Bob Teeter: The party that owns health care is a loser. Today, it's a peril both political parties face. (Albert R. Hunt, 10/1)

The decision by Senate Republicans leaders to set aside the Graham-Cassidy plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has renewed talk of finding a bipartisan way forward on health care. But disagreement about what a bipartisan negotiation would be about is still an obstacle to getting a negotiation underway. (James C. Capretta, 9/28)

Health-care reform will have to come from both parties or it will not be accepted by America. It will have to be a compromise that comes from both parties or it will not pass the Kimmel test, the nonsensical but powerful showbiz bar such a bill must now clear. That means it will be more liberal than the Republicans want, and more expensive. ... Now the Republicans turn to tax reform. Again they move from a weakened position. (Peggy Noonan, 9/28)

When Obamacare became law, many people didn’t know how it worked. Eight years later that’s still the case. As of February, one-third of Americans were unaware that it was the same thing as the Affordable Care Act. The effect was most pronounced among people under 30—which does not bode well for young people knowing how, when, and where to sign up for health care under the law. (James S. Hamblin, 9/28)

A thistle to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for going out of its way to prevent Americans from securing health insurance. Though Congress has fortunately not repealed Obamacare, the Trump administration is actively working to discourage Americans from buying private coverage in exchanges created by the law. The agency is slashing spending on advertising and promotion for the upcoming “open enrollment” period when Americans can purchase individual plans for 2018. It has cut grants to about 100 nonprofit groups, known as navigators, that help many people in low-income areas sign up. It even shortened the enrollment window from three months to six weeks. (10/1)

Is health care a right? The United States remains the only developed country in the world unable to come to agreement on an answer. Earlier this year, I was visiting Athens, Ohio, the town in the Appalachian foothills where I grew up. The battle over whether to repeal, replace, or repair the Affordable Care Act raged then, as it continues to rage now. So I began asking people whether they thought that health care was a right. The responses were always interesting. (Atul Gawande, 10/2)

It is anyone’s guess whether Democrats will unite around the goal of creating a single-payer health care system or even take a less ambitious approach — introducing a public health insurance option. Adding public insurance as an option in the complex American health care system has been treated as a consolation prize for those who really favor single-payer health care, but the lighter approach might pack much more punch than you might think. What’s more, the best way to see that is by looking at the Indian labor market and the Mexican grocery market. (Seema Jayachandran, 9/29)