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To: Jorj X Mckie who wrote (50139)	1/20/2004 3:37:41 AM
From: stevenallen	Respond to of 57110

This seems stranger than the usual weirdness of corporate America: auto makers muscling the health care industry Dow Jones Business News Detroit Auto Makers Fight Local Hospitals' Building Plans Tuesday January 20, 12:16 am ET DETROIT -- General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM - News) , Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F - News) and DaimlerChrysler AG (NYSE:DCX - News) have joined a legal challenge to block two Michigan health systems from building two new hospitals in the Detroit suburbs, Tuesday's Wall Street Journal reported. The auto makers' decision to attack the hospitals' expansion plans comes as senior leaders of the three big U.S. auto companies are becoming more vocal about the competitive disadvantage their unionized U.S. operations face. Ford Chairman and Chief Executive Bill Ford Jr. said recently that rising health-care costs discourage manufacturers from adding jobs in the U.S. Calling for a "national dialogue" on the issue, Mr. Ford said health-care costs account for $700 of a total $1,200 cost disadvantage that Ford suffers against its major rivals. The three auto makers' move has created a debate in Michigan that touches on larger national health-care issues, such as the role of prescription drugs in driving health costs and how best to offset the costs hospitals bear for providing medical care to the poor and uninsured. The auto makers worry that the hospitals would add unneeded costs and lead to overcapacity in Detroit's Oakland County suburbs. Many hospitals see increasing their presence in fast-growing, upper-income suburban areas as a way to subsidize care to uninsured and indigent patients' in urban and rural areas. The auto makers are challenging hospital expansions as members of the Economic Alliance for Michigan. The alliance includes the United Auto Workers and most other unions in Michigan as members, as well as Big Three suppliers Lear Corp. (NYSE:LEA - News), Delphi Corp. (NYSE:DPH - News), and Visteon Corp. (NYSE:VC - News) The alliance filed an amicus brief recently in support of a lawsuit brought by five competing hospitals. The suit, filed in Michigan's Ingham County Circuit Court, asks a Michigan judge to block Henry Ford Health System and St. John Health from building new facilities and transferring a combined total of about 500 licensed hospital beds to the two new locations. Officials at Henry Ford and St. John say their expansion plans are part of a strategy to offset the losses suffered from extending care to the poor by expanding in Detroit's wealthy suburban communities -- home to many auto company executives. State lawmakers granted the two health systems an exemption from Michigan's "certificate of need" requirement, which is designed to prevent unneeded hospital construction or expansions. Wall Street Journal Staff Reporter Lee Hawkins Jr. contributed to this report.

To: Jorj X Mckie who wrote (50139)	1/20/2004 10:04:32 PM
From: Stoctrash	Respond to of 57110

Yaahhh....uggg....that was a bad thing! ....hope your knee is doing better dood. All is well here....!! Havin a blast. Life is good! Went snomobiling last week with my neighbor...he's got one of those new Ski-Doo Rev's....damn it was sweet.90mph like nothing...smooth as silk! Sure beats the ride of those 1970's sleds! speaking of crashes, I wrecked myself on my wheeler a few months ago and tore up some rib stuffs. Man that takes 6-8 weeks or more to get back to 90%. Be safe...and remember, stupid hurts!