Grady gets earful on free-care limits

Healthcare activists have attacked the Grady Memorial Hospital proposal to increase medical costs to some uninsured patients, saying hospital leaders were being insensitive to poor people. The plan would effectively shut needy people out of care at an Atlanta hospital that they depend on as a health center of last resort, said several people who spoke at the Grady board meeting. Grady officials set off a storm of controversy when they recently aired proposals that could eliminate free care to some patients. Stressing that the hospital remains millions of dollars in debt, Grady CEO Michael Young said the hospital wants "to make sure that people who can afford to pay something will pay something."