News From Around the Web
> The Department of Veterans Affairs announced it will adjust a confusing rule in its "choice card" program that requires veterans in rural areas to prove they live more than 40 miles from a VA facility in order to seek treatment from private providers, the Kansas City Star reported. Article
> A 43-year-old man was charged with first-degree murder after authorities said he stabbed his estranged wife to death at Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, where she was visiting her brother, the Chicago Tribune reported. Article
> A United Kingdom parliamentary group said Tuesday that multidrug-resistant tuberculosis could kill 75 million people and cost the global economy $16.7 trillion in the next 35 years if left unchecked, according to Reuters. Article
Health Finance News
> The New York Times takes a new look at the phenomenon of cost-shifting, supposedly caused by Medicaid's underpayments to hospitals, which in turn cause hospitals to charge higher rates to commercially insured patients. Article
> Hospitals have cut their use of fossil fuel for their energy needs in recent years, but they still rely on electricity, according to the latest report by Chicago-based engineering consultant Grumman/Butkus Associates. Article
And Finally… Not so abominable. Article