Hospitals gain reprieve in Medicaid lawsuit

Hospitals have won a reprieve from a change in Medicaid regulations that would trim hospital payments by an estimated $5 billion over the next five years. Hospitals filed a federal lawsuit in March to void the regulations, and U.S. District Court Judge James Robertson voiced exception to procedures that federal health officials used to put the regulations into effect. The ruling set aside the regulations, and hospitals officials who filed the lawsuit said it's now up to the Bush administration to decide whether to republish the rule.