Ellington

NY Times reports: "Medicare's financial condition has significantly deteriorated, partly because of exploding health costs and partly because of the new Medicare law, the government reported on Tuesday. In its annual report to Congress, the Medicare board of trustees said the program's hospital insurance trust fund could run out of money before the end of the next decade. The trustees have made such projections in the past, but this one was much bleaker than the outlook reported just last year.