Hospital patients waiting in an emergency room or convalescing after surgery are being confronted by an unexpected visitor: a debt collector at bedside.

This and other aggressive tactics by one of the nation’s largest collectors of medical debts, Accretive Health,
were revealed on Tuesday by the Minnesota attorney general, raising
concerns that such practices have become common at hospitals across the
country.

Millions of children in America are denied the opportunity to receive a fair and high quality education. In March, the U.S. Department of Education released new information showing that children of color face harsher discipline, have less access to rigorous course offerings, and are more often taught by lower paid and less experienced teachers.

Inequities in funding and educational resources place poor children in low-performing schools with inadequate facilities and often ineffective teachers. Practices such as tracking, grade retention, out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, and one-size-fits-all zero tolerance policies continue to contribute to the discouragement, disengagement, and eventual dropout of countless children in America to their detriment and to all of us who need a competitive future workforce.

(CNN) — Someone in Maryland is about to have a wildly euphoric weekend.

A winning ticket for the record-breaking $640 million Mega Millions jackpot was sold in Baltimore County, the Maryland Lottery said Saturday.

Lottery officials are waiting for information on potential jackpot winners from other Mega Millions states.

The winning numbers in the Mega Millions lottery Friday night were 2, 4, 23, 38, 46 with a Mega Ball of 23.

California Lottery Commission spokesman Alex Traverso said 29 tickets sold in that state matched five of the six winning numbers. He said the payout will be about $125,000 to $130,000.

Updated March 27, 10:50 a.m. ET — U.S. legacy and low-fare airlines have agreed to increase airfares by up to $10 on roundtrip flights.

Airlines have attempted five fare increases so far this year, and three have stuck.

In the second quarter of 2011, prices jumped twice, Rick Seaney, CEO of FareCompare.com, said in an e-mail. “I expect to see something similar this year as we head into the historically busy summer travel season which is likely to be much busier this year.”

“Consumers who are traveling through early June should be shopping now and holding off a bit for late June onward,” Seaney said, as airlines haven’t yet unveiled their cheapest prices. “Those that wish to lock in tickets today should recall the drop in oil prices last summer.”

WASHINGTON — U.S. healthcare spending barely rose in 2010 from record-low recession levels, as high unemployment and the loss of private health insurance forced many Americans to delay or forego medical treatment, government officials said on Monday.

Spending edged up 3.9 percent, bringing the total size of the U.S.
healthcare system to $2.6 trillion, or $8,402 per person, according to a
report released by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,
or CMS, and published in the journal Health Affairs.

Growth in 2010 was only a slim 0.1 percentage point higher than the
3.8 percent recorded in 2009, which was the lowest rate recorded in half
a century. Per capita health spending in the United States is still the
highest worldwide.

Ford is hoping history can repeat itself with the upcoming launch of the next-generation Fusion four-door.

It’s been more than a quarter century since the maker revolutionized automotive design with the original Taurus sedan. Its windswept styling helped Ford dominate the huge midsize market segment, and led most competitors to migrate to more aerodynamic designs. The new Fusion, which makes its debut at the Detroit Auto Show next month, will borrow many of the visual cues of the recent Ford Evos concept car and, if early reviews are any indication, could help the maker topple the imports that have dominated the midsize segment over the last two decades.

OMAHA (AP) – The young father stood in line at the Kmart layaway counter, wearing dirty clothes and worn-out boots. With him were three small children.

He asked to pay something on his bill because he
knew he wouldn’t be able to afford it all before Christmas. Then a
mysterious woman stepped up to the counter.

“She
told him, ‘No, I’m paying for it,’” recalled Edna Deppe, assistant
manager at the store in Indianapolis. “He just stood there and looked at
her and then looked at me and asked if it was a joke. I told him it
wasn’t, and that she was going to pay for him. And he just busted out in
tears.”

Stony Brook University President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D., announced today that the University has received a $150 million gift from Dr. James and Dr. Marilyn Simons, and from the Simons Foundation. It is the largest gift in the history of Stony Brook University or to any one of the 64 institutions in the SUNY system. Present for the historic announcement, in addition to the Simons, were New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, State University of New York Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher, and a number of elected representatives.
Jim Simons is Board Chair of Renaissance Technologies LLC, Chair of the Simons Foundation, and former Chairman of Stony Brook’s Department of Mathematics. Marilyn Simons is an alumna of the University and President of the Simons Foundation. Dr. Stanley said that the University worked closely with them to establish three priorities for their investment: research excellence in the School of Medicine; faculty hires through new endowed professorships; and recruitment of top level graduate and undergraduate students.

A Seattle woman who is receiving welfare assistance from Washington state also happens to live in a waterfront house on Lake Washington worth more than a million dollars.

Federal agents raided the home this weekend but have not released the woman or her husband’s name because they have not officially been charged with a crime.

However, federal documents obtained by KING 5 News show the couple currently receives more than $1,200 a month in public housing vouchers, plus state and government disability checks and food stamps. They have been receiving the benefits since 2003.

The 2,500 square-foot home, which includes gardens and a boat dock, is valued at $1.2 million. And even though the couple has been receiving the benefits for nearly 10 years, records show that they accurately listed the address of their current home when applying for the state and federal benefits.

NEW YORK – An early rally fizzled on the stock market Friday but still left the Standard & Poor’s 500 index up 7.4 percent for the week, its biggest gain since March 2009.

A surprise drop in the U.S. unemployment rate sent stocks higher in early trading, but the gains faded during the afternoon.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.61 of a point to close at 12,019.42. The Dow ended the week up 7 percent, the largest weekly gain since July 2009.

Bank stocks rose sharply, continuing a weeklong rally. JPMorgan Chase & Co. jumped 6.1 percent, the most among the 30 stocks in the Dow average. Morgan Stanley leapt 6.9 percent, the second-biggest gain of any stock in the S&P 500 index.