Modern Healthcare articles from February 2006

Modern Healthcare archives from February 2006

Late News; PacifiCare charges dismissed.(PacifiCare Health Systems)(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... A federal judge in Miami dismissed charges against PacifiCare Health Systems, Cypress, Calif., in a class-action racketeering lawsuit alleging that the nation's largest health insurers systematically shortchanged up to 900,000 physicians. U.S....

AHQA sets new rules; Code for QIOs addresses travel, compensation.(The Week In Healthcare)(American Health Quality Association)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Andis Robeznieks Criticism of Medicare quality improvement organizations from Congress contributed to a decision by the American Health Quality Association, a trade group representing 40 QIOs, to release a new code of conduct. ...

Primary-care docs feel left out; Providers feel financial pinch despite saving money.(The Week In Healthcare)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Michael Romano While President Bush continued his call to modernize the healthcare system in his State of the Union address, primary-care physicians are feeling a little left behind. Already a slowly dying breed, primary-care...

Petillo exiting N.J. school.(The Week In Healthcare)(John Petillo)(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Cinda Becker John Petillo, the president of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, agreed to step down Feb. 28. He will receive severance pay equal to one year's salary of $600,000, contingent on his cooperation...

Leaving the C-suite; UC Irvine's Cygan follows other recent departures.(Ralph Cygan resigns)(University of California (Irvine). Medical Center (Orange, California) )
February 6, 2006... Byline: Laura B. Benko The chief executive officer of the University of California at Irvine Medical Center resigned last week amid a management reorganization designed to help the troubled hospital recover from a string of recent...

Frays brewing in Mont., Texas; Cases spotlight concern over doc-owned hospitals.(disadvantages of physician owned hospitals)(Montana)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Jessica Zigmond The specialty hospital debate has extended to Montana, where last week a judge halted a for-profit, multispecialty hospital and a not-for-profit health system from continuing with their joint venture to buy Central...

Joint Commission backs book aimed at empowering patients.(Outliers: Asides & Insides)
February 6, 2006... If self-awareness is the first step to wisdom, officials at the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations made an astute move in seeking out two authors, physicians Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz, to collaborate on You: The...

Back to New Orleans; HCA will reopen first hospital downtown this month.(The Week In Healthcare)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Vince Galloro HCA said it will become the first hospital provider to resume services in downtown New Orleans on Feb. 14, nearly six months after Hurricane Katrina hit, even though the company acknowledges that the prospects for the...

Impaired docs not getting help: report.(Physician Affairs)(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Michael Romano About one-third of all physicians experience serious physical, psychological or behavioral problems, according to an article appearing in the Jan. 17 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. Those problems, such as...

Pulling it together; Annual IHN 100 ranking shows continuing move toward enhanced integration.(integrated healthcare networks)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Mark Taylor How do you get to the top of the annual Verispan list of the 100 best-performing integrated healthcare networks? Just like the old Carnegie Hall chestnut: practice, practice and more practice. But also, according to...

Tax-exempt bonds scrutinized; CBO studies use by hospitals, other not-for-profits.(Congressional Budget Office)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Mark Taylor The Congressional Budget Office is conducting a study to determine how hospitals, health systems and other not-for-profit organizations use or possibly abuse tax-exempt bonds, Modern Healthcare has learned. A former...

Other Voices.(Opinions)(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... Gov. Jennifer Granholm "vowed in her State of the State program to provide `affordable healthcare for 550,000 people.' Granholm's proposal would cost an estimated $1 billion. The money would come by identifying as much as $400 million in...

On the move...(News Makers)
February 6, 2006... HOSPITALS, SYSTEMS Tenet Healthcare Corp., Dallas, named Phillip Sowa CEO of its 373-bed Park Plaza Hospital, Houston. Sowa, 58, is transferring from Tenet's 221-bed Meadowcrest Hospital, Gretna, La., where COO Michael Beaver will act as...

Don't forget what's important; Keep others in mind and show them how much they mean to you.(Lauer's Letter)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Charles S. Lauer, Vice President-Publishing/Editorial Director At a recent retirement party, I heard a song that evoked many memories. It's called "Remember Me,'' and it's by the singer-songwriter Neil Diamond from the album, "You...

Build on the vision; President's ideas welcome, but bipartisan, comprehensive health policy is needed.(Commentary)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Douglas Hawthorne President Bush said in his State of the Union speech last week that "Keeping America competitive requires affordable healthcare.'' He cited electronic health records, health savings accounts and tort reform as...

Battered Ochsner stays on ranking, for now.(Ochsner Clinic Foundation)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Mark Taylor Even though Hurricane Katrina pounded Ochsner Clinic Foundation's operations last year, the storm couldn't knock the New Orleans healthcare system off of Verispan's latest ranking of the top 100 integrated health...

And the winners are ... Multitaskers get 2006 Health Care Hall of Fame award.(The Week In Healthcare)(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Melanie Evans The retired president of AnMed Health Medical Center holds a unique distinction among healthcare executives. D. Kirk Oglesby Jr., 75, achieved what might be the Triple Crown of healthcare leadership, at different...

Easy on the healthcare; Healthcare leaders and others were expecting to hear more from President Bush on the nation's healthcare concerns.
February 6, 2006... Byline: Matthew DoBias A big buildup of anticipation regarding an expected rollout of new healthcare proposals from President Bush in his State of the Union address last week was squelched by the president's relative lack of attention to...

Mass. sites post hospital data.(The Week In Healthcare)(Massachusetts)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Joseph Mantone Two Massachusetts Web sites recently started posting additional hospital data for use by the public, a move that's in line with a nationwide public reporting trend. The Massachusetts Hospital Association and...

Battling office-based surgeries; Tenn. hospitals cite safety risks, want lawmakers to revoke new rules.(Physician Affairs)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Michael Romano The Tennessee Hospital Association, which lost a court battle over new state guidelines governing office-based surgery, will now ask state lawmakers to overturn the rules. Association officials say the rules will...

Moving IT forward; Government advances plans for electronic records.(News)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Michael Romano As President Bush urges the nation's health system to move into a new era of information technology, the federal government has made final plans to create a model electronic record for both consumers and providers...

Midwest.(plans of University Hospitals of Cleveland)(usage of electronic medical records)(joint venture of Clarian Health Partners with Arnett Health plans)
February 6, 2006... CLEVELAND-In January, University Hospitals Health System approved a five-year, $1 billion capital plan for a new 200-bed cancer-treatment hospital, expanded services, additional suburban outpatient centers and technological enhancements. More...

South.(Baylor College of Medicine receives donation to its cancer center)(Baptist Health System and Community Health Systems signs letter of intent)
February 6, 2006... HOUSTON-Baylor College of Medicine said it received a $100 million donation to its cancer center in the Texas Medical Center that will be used for an endowment and program development. The donation came from Dan Duncan, a member of the...

West.(Triad Hospitals opens new medical center)(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... PALMER, Alaska-Triad Hospitals, Plano, Texas, and Valley Hospital, Palmer, held a ceremony to mark the opening of $101 million Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, replacing Valley Hospital. Investor-owned Triad owns 76% of the joint venture that...

Double dipping, no ethics; Executives and their associations caught up in same pattern of conflicts.(Editorial)
February 6, 2006... Byline: David Burda, Editor Should the American Hospital Association own a piece of a company that does business with the Medicare program? Should an executive of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society serve on the...

Just the beginning? With $11.2 billion in Medicaid, Medicare cuts passed, providers fear more to come.(The Week In Healthcare)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Matthew DoBias The House last week passed by a razor-thin margin--216-214--the federal budget reconciliation bill, which trims an estimated $11.2 billion over five years from Medicaid and Medicare coffers. Before the ink even...

Northeast.(Regional News)
February 6, 2006... NEW HAVEN, Conn.-A Connecticut state judge in late January denied a plea by uninsured patients seeking class certification in a 2003 lawsuit filed against Yale-New Haven Hospital and Bridgeport (Conn.) Hospital, part of the Yale-New Haven...

On alert; Ore. health system informs patients of data theft.(The Week In Healthcare)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Mark Taylor Providence Home Services sent letters to 365,000 current and former patients letting them know about a data theft that included Social Security numbers, clinical and demographic information and in some cases, financial...

In Memoriam.(William Graham)(Brief Article)(Obituary)
February 6, 2006... Byline: Mark Taylor William Graham, former chairman, president and CEO of Deerfield, Ill.-based Baxter International, died Jan. 24 in his north suburban Chicago home at age 94 of heart failure. "His visionary leadership and never-ending...

Corrections & Clarifications.(Corrections)(Correction Notice)
February 6, 2006... Photo captions on the Jan. 30 cover and accompanying the cover story ("States turn up the heat," p. 6) incorrectly identified those pictured. Robert Urciuoli, former president and chief executive officer of Roger Williams Medical Center,...

Text of Bush's comments and their impact on the industry.(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... We must also confront the larger challenge of mandatory spending, or entitlements. This year, the first of about 78 million baby boomers turn 60, including two of my dad's favorite people-me and President Clinton. This milestone is more than a...

By The Numbers.(The Week In Healthcare)(Brief Article)
February 6, 2006... A survey of employee-benefit specialists indicates that the cost of healthcare benefits to active employees is by far their No. 1 priority, with 55% of respondents ranking it at the top of their concerns. Deloitte Development conducted the...

Latest privacy blunder seen as prod for enforcers to act.(Brigham & Women's Hospital)
February 13, 2006... The faxing of patients' sensitive medical information to a bank could be an opportunity for HHS' Office for Civil Rights to finally show some teeth, a healthcare lawyer says. Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston, had been mistakenly sending...

Testing the limits of care; Concern about "genetic discrimination' from employers and insurers trying to keep costs down casts a pall on genetic testing.
February 13, 2006... Byline: Laura B. Benko Thanks to rapid advances in genetics, doctors can now take a few cells or blood droplets, extract the DNA, stretch it across a screen and determine a patient's predisposition to more than 1,200 distinct diseases,...

Budget boosts gain-sharing; CMS allowed up to six demonstration projects.(Applied Medical Software)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Cinda Becker Hospitals struggling to legitimize physician gain-sharing as a conventional way to contain costs and improve quality found new hope in the Deficit Reduction Act signed into law last week. Tucked inside the fiscal...

Doc shortage grows in Wis.(The Week In Healthcare)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Melanie Evans The shortage of family-practice doctors in Wisconsin doubled from 2003 to 2006, highlighting the state's growing need for family practitioners and contributing to record vacancies, new data from the Wisconsin Office...

Spreading out; UPMC partners with Alliance Imaging on cancer care.(University of Pittsburgh Medical Center)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Cinda Becker The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center is marketing its cancer-care expertise nationally, but hopefully in an invisible, nonthreatening way to local hospitals. The entrepreneurial health system has partnered...

The wisdom of Mr. Rogers; America's favorite neighbor provides inspiration for life.(Lauer's Letter)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Charles S. Lauer, Vice President-Publishing/Editorial Director Remember Mr. Rogers? He was known as "America's favorite neighbor'' and according to the jacket of a recent book by him, "dedicated his life to serving children through...

No more room; Overcrowding blamed for ambulance diversions.(The Week In Healthcare)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Jessica Zigmond An increase in the diversion of ambulances from hospitals is driven by overcrowded emergency departments and not enough appropriate inpatient hospitals beds, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a...

All health IT is local; Emerging backbone grows from regional networks often led by physicians.(information technology)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Jeremy Nobel The vision of a national health information network is gaining impetus from Washington, but it is becoming reality through work at the grassroots. Regional electronic networks are bringing medicine into the digital age...

Late News; On-call coverage in W.Va. settled.
February 13, 2006... Charleston (W.Va.) Area Medical Center ended a showdown with heart surgeons in a case with national implications for on-call coverage and hospital compliance with federal law governing emergency medical treatment. The three-hospital system and...

Corrections & Clarifications.(Corrections)(Correction Notice)
February 13, 2006... The organizational affiliation of Linda Kloss, chief executive officer of the American Health Information Management Association, was misidentified in the Feb. 6 issue (p. 6). The first name of Sister Carol Keehan, president and chief...

Bridging a quality movement; Collaboration seeks to make pay-for-performance a mainstream practice.(The Week In Healthcare)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Michael Romano Bridges to Excellence is teaming with the nation's biggest medical-specialty board to create a program that could provide cash incentives to tens of thousands of physicians and help pave the way for general...

S&P: Good times may end soon.(Standard & Poor's)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Cinda Becker The not-for-profit hospital industry is experiencing one of the most favorable climates in nearly a decade, but there are a few troublesome signs of a turning tide, according to Standard & Poor's. The New York...

Easy for you to say; JCAHO hires brand consultant regarding possible name change.(Late News)(Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations )(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Joseph Conn The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has hired a brand consultant to study possible alternatives to JCAHO's relatively long name, among other things. The commission's unwieldy name has...

Making the cut; High price tags for state-of-the art surgical equipment have hospitals weighing when or even whether to invest.(Special Report)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Elizabeth Gardner About four years ago, Lancaster (Pa.) General Hospital laid out $1 million for a portable device that would perform intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging, to please one neurosurgeon who wanted to see...

Top hospitals even better: study.(The Week In Healthcare)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Joseph Conn The top 5% of U.S. hospitals are pulling away from the pack in terms of improvements in risk-adjusted patient mortality and complication rates, based on an analysis of Medicare data in a report released last week by...

Medicare cuts rile providers; Bush's 2007 budget "not reflective of political reality'.(The Week In Healthcare)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Mathew DoBias Healthcare provider executives firmly oppose the proposed $37 billion in cuts over five years to Medicare and Medicaid growth within President Bush's fiscal 2007 budget unveiled last week. The White House last...

Hanging in the balance; Industry awaits word on specialty hospital ban.
February 13, 2006... Byline: Jessica Zigmond The healthcare industry will have to continue to wait for a decision on when an effective ban on new specialty hospitals will come to a close, if at all, as a result of the budget bill signed by President Bush last...

HCA hits gain-sharing hurdle; Vendor objects to comments on usage levels.
February 13, 2006... Byline: Joseph Mantone A contractual dispute between HCA and orthopedic vendor Zimmer Holdings last week revealed some of the difficulties encountered when a large system tries to get physicians to buy into a gain-sharing program, industry...

In the spotlight.(News Makers)
February 13, 2006... After two turbulent years as president and CEO of Baptist Health System in Birmingham, Ala., Beth O'Brien has called it quits, leaving a trimmed-down hospital system still mired in red ink. O'Brien, 58, who took over the system in January...

Hospitals fight Ill. charity bills.(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Mark Taylor Illinois hospitals struck back against two bills submitted last month by the state's attorney general that would require a set amount of charity care and prohibit aggressive debt-collection practices. The Illinois...

Deadline nears for voting on Most Powerful docs.(The Week In Healthcare)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... There's still time to cast your ballot in the second annual 50 Most Powerful Physician Executives in Healthcare competition. Readers sent in more than 1,600 nominations for this year's awards program and that list was used to compile the...

On the move...(News Makers)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... HOSPITALS Thomas McAfee has been named president and CEO of Lake Forest (Ill.) Hospital, replacing William Ries, who announced his retirement in July 2005 after 30 years with the facility. Ries will stay on during a brief transition....

Pumping up bonuses in Calif. Plan seeks to boost rewards to 10% of doc income.(The Week In Healthcare)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Laura B. Benko The nation's largest pay-for-performance program last week announced a controversial plan to expand its financial incentives so that quality-based bonuses account for up to 10% of physicians' income within five...

$169 million set aside for IT.(information technology)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Andis Robeznieks The Bush administration's proposed $2.77 trillion budget places what it calls a "high priority'' on information technology, allocating $169 million to accelerate health IT adoption. Bush's request is greater than...

The Star Trek budget; Bush's plan is alien vision for members of Congress seeking re-election.(tax policy on health care industry)(Editorial)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Todd Sloane, Assistant Managing Editor/Op-Ed I spent a couple of days last week in a parallel universe known as "the Beltway.'' In this contrarian realm, a new law that increases the federal deficit can safely be called the Deficit...

GETTING A LEG UP? Rehab patients get an assist from devices such as HealthSouth's AutoAmbulator, but the robots' clinical benefits are still in doubt.(Medical Advances)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Joseph Mantone Gary West spent four years developing the AutoAmbulator-a rehabilitation device designed to help patients get back on their feet after suffering strokes or other debilitating injuries. But he was worried that the...

RHIOs make it work; Data-sharing project connects three networks.(Regional Health Information Organization)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Joseph Conn Regional healthcare data-sharing groups in Boston, Indianapolis and Mendocino County, Calif., successfully swapped hundreds of thousands of patient-related messages in a pilot program begun last year, according to...

Other Voices.(Opinions)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... "President Bush's proposed budget represents an overdue return to Republican principles of fiscal responsibility and limited government.... The president has made the tough, disciplined decision to hold the line on domestic programs.'' ...

A back-up plan; LifePoint looks to recruitment to improve earnings.(The Week In Healthcare)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Vince Galloro LifePoint Hospitals, Brentwood, Tenn., gobbled up Province Healthcare Co. last year, and LifePoint's earnings reported last week show signs that the deal caused some indigestion. But the company is still looking...

To buy or not to buy: These are the questions.(medical equipment used by surgeons)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Elizabeth Gardner For any big-ticket surgical purchase, providers should ask these questions: * Will the patients be better off with the new equipment compared with what the surgeons use now? Solid outcomes data often take...

Ready for anything; Disaster medicine, planning take central focus.(American Board of Physician Specialties service as disaster medicine)
February 13, 2006... The American Board of Physician Specialties will create a new specialty in disaster medicine, the certifying organization announced early this month. Officials with the Atlanta-based board, one of three national groups that certify specialists,...

AMGA leads CMS demo project on chronic illness.(American Medical Group Association)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... A consortium led by the American Medical Group Association has kicked off a CMS demonstration project for about 1,600 Medicare beneficiaries with congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and/or diabetes. Under the Health...

By The Numbers.(health care expenditures report)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... An average of 13 million U.S. families, or 10.8%, spent at least one-tenth of their family income on direct out-of-pocket costs for healthcare, excluding premiums, in 2001 and 2002, according to a report by the Commonwealth Fund. That compared...

EHRs: Still in hot pursuit; Annual IT survey shows continuing focus on patient-care improvements.(Electronic Health Records )
February 13, 2006... Byline: Joseph Conn Once again, implementing an electronic health record system is the top priority for healthcare executives responding to Modern Healthcare's annual survey of opinions on information technology. Survey respondents...

Budgets: Opening the wallet.(usage of information technology in health care industry)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Joseph Conn Healthcare leaders responding to questions in Modern Healthcare's annual survey on information technology apparently are motivated to spend more money on IT and have positive attitudes toward increasing operating and...

CPOE: Incremental progress.(Special Feature)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Joseph Conn As far back as 1991, the Institute of Medicine, in The Computer-Based Patient Record: An Essential Technology for Health Care, called for creating systems with decision-support applications. The report decried that "In...

How we did it.(information technology used)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... This is the 16th year Modern Healthcare has conducted a survey of senior healthcare executives on healthcare information technology. This year, 601 respondents participated in the online survey, which was by invitation only. Invitations to...

Subsidies: Ready to give, but ...
February 13, 2006... Byline: Joseph Conn In late 2003, Congress passed the Medicare Modernization Act mandating the creation of legal "safe harbors" so hospitals, group practices, Medicare drug and managed-care plans could subsidize the cost of electronic...

State EHRs too early?(electronic health records)(Brief Article)
February 13, 2006... Byline: Joseph Mantone State efforts to create electronic health records have raised questions about whether they may be acting too quickly. With federal standards possibly on the horizon, separate state standards may not be a good...

IT at center stage; HIMSS conference draws record attendees, vendors.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Joseph Conn and Andis Robeznieks Clinical data exchange, electronic medical-records certification and a lot of talk about who will pick up the tab for an estimated multibillion-dollar national investment in healthcare information...

Keeping the heat on; Healthcare organizations remain a prime target for the IRS, and the environment isn't likely to become any less taxing.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Mark Taylor If not-for-profit hospitals thought last year's Internal Revenue Service scrutiny of issues such as executive compensation and the use of tax-exempt bonds were the regulatory equivalents of piling on, 2006 looks to be...

Interim exec replaces Topol.(News Makers)(Column)
February 20, 2006... Byline: Michael Romano Steven Nissen, a pioneer in the development of intravascular ultrasound and president-elect of the American College of Cardiology, has been named interim chairman of the Cleveland Clinic's department of...

Focus on the positive; Kipling offers timeless advice on dealing with the mean-spirited.(Editorial)
February 20, 2006... Byline: Charles S. Lauer, Vice President-Publishing/Editorial Director Meanness seems to be prevalent today. Personal attacks in the media and in business have become a sport. People are being called liars in public, and jealousy and...

Hospital billing complexity 'a story that won't go away'.
February 20, 2006... A soon-to-air segment of CBS' "60 Minutes,'' on the knotty formulas hospitals use to charge for services, has the American Hospital Association warning members of an onslaught of none-too-favorable media attention. In a Feb. 10 Member...

Core competencies developed for hospitalists.(Brief Article)
February 20, 2006... Byline: Michael Romano The first set of core competencies developed to help serve as a benchmark for the education and training of hospitalists was unveiled earlier this month. Developed by the Philadelphia-based Society of Hospital...

Gains, but losses too; Indian Health Service may lose urban funding.(The Week In Healthcare)(Column)
February 20, 2006... Byline: Jessica Zigmond While HHS' Indian Health Service would get a 4% increase in funding in President Bush's proposed fiscal 2007 budget, the plan includes eliminating funding for the Urban Indian Health Programs. That could have...

Wanted: clearer pricing; Bush pushes for consumers to get better price data.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Matthew DoBias President Bush took a few first steps last week toward shifting his healthcare agenda to the issue of making pricing more transparent, a move that received mixed reviews from industry executives. In a series of...

Capitalize on expertise; Three for-profits tap healthcare executives for boards.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Cinda Becker Three for-profit companies with vested interests in selling their products to providers have tapped three prominent healthcare figures for their boards of directors. In addition, a healthcare chief information...

The sky's the limit; Setbacks in disease-management pilots belie optimism for future.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Tracey Moorhead Chicken Little'' may already have moved from theaters to DVD, but pronouncements that the sky is falling lived on after PacifiCare Health Systems' January decision to end its HeartPartners Medicare demonstration...

No sale in Augusta; HMA backs out of buying Georgia hospital.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Vince Galloro St. Joseph Hospital has had a tumultuous nine months since its owner, Ascension Health, said the Augusta, Ga., facility was for sale. The 107-bed hospital went without a Blues managed-care contract for about four...

Other Voices.(Opinions)
February 20, 2006... "Indeed, if we do nothing, (Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid) are forecast to eat up nearly 20% of America's gross domestic product by 2040, roughly the share consumed by all federal spending today. In other words, without entitlement...

In case of emergency ... Don't use Bush's budget--but fund those who would respond to a health crisis.
February 20, 2006... Byline: Todd Sloane, Assistant Managing Editor/Op-Ed The lone issue on which President Bush still commands respect from voters is his handling of terrorism, so it's no surprise that the biggest winners in his latest budget are defense and...