Medicare cash flow surge for hospital (Mendocino Beacon)
"Things are really improving," said Mendocino Coast District Hospital CFO Wayne Allen at the year-end December directors' meeting. The chief financial officer reported Medicare had released $550,000 of $1.4 million due the district.

Analysis defines impact of Medicare Part D (News-Medical-Net)
The most thorough study to date of the impact of the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit (Part D) found that this benefit led to a 13.1 percent decrease in out-of-pocket expenses for patients and a 5.9 percent increase in prescription use.

Medicare drug plans costing seniors money (The Post-Standard)
The publisher of Consumer Reports magazine says many Medicare Part D plans are raising prices well in excess of the rate of inflation.