Ads target Florida public hospitals' links to council

As the state Legislature prepares to meet, a group backed by the for-profit HCA hospital chain and Associated Industries of Florida is using fliers and a TV commercial to hammer public hospitals, which are accused of spending "$1.2 billion of our tax money . . . on themselves." The targets of the ads are members of the little-known Lower Income Pool Council, which advises the Legislature on how to distribute state-federal money to hospitals and clinics that provide the most care for the poor and uninsured.