A controversial new rule by the Bush administration seeks to allow states to restrict how often most Medicaid patients may visit hospital emergency rooms. According to the Washington Post, “the new rule rewrites a basic protection the government has for years given every Medicaid patient in managed care as states have increasingly entrusted care of the poor to HMOs and other private health plans.” The article also noted that “three-fifths of the 37 million Americans on Medicaid are enrolled in some form of managed care.” Consumer groups have vowed to fight the change in policy. For the entire article, please go to http://www.ama-assn.org. For additional information concerning HMO litigation, please visit the HMO Crisis Newsroom