For American hospitals, "the cost of doing nothing in Washington translates into tens of billions of dollars each year in medical bills that go unpaid by patients with little or no insurance," The New York Times reports. "Nationwide, the cost of unpaid care for hospitals, which includes charity care as well as money that could not be collected from patients, was around $36 billion in 2008. It is expected to spiral higher." Some hospitals, such as Park Nicollet Health Services near Minneapolis, are already cutting back services and staff... 
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