Medicaid rules, Understaffed park police

Costly Medicaid rules

Democratic and Republican governors this week assailed new Medicaid rules they said would burden states with $13 billion in new costs when their budgets are already in deficit. Meeting in Washington, the governors objected to regulations that bar the use of federal money to pay for doctor training and limit payments to state-run hospitals. The Bush administration says the rules will “protect the fiscal integrity of the Medicaid program.”

Park police understaffed

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The police force guarding the nation’s monuments and parks is severely understaffed at a time of heightened terrorism concerns, according to a government watchdog group and agency officials. U.S. Park Police staffing has fallen by nearly half, to 576 uniformed officers, since 2001, and six of the agency’s 13 senior management positions are vacant. After the 9/11 attacks, the force’s mission expanded to include anti-terror duties, the report said, but its budget has not kept pace.