Patton's cherished health care system in action:

By Keith B. Richburg
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 7, 2008; Page A01
PLAINFIELD, N.J. -- If the country is facing a nationwide health-care crisis, then the condition in New Jersey can be described as gravely critical.

The state has an estimated 1.3 million people without health insurance who cannot pay a doctor or a hospital bill. New Jersey law requires that hospitals treat anyone who walks through their doors, and then get reimbursed later by the state. But the state's looming budget shortfall has forced it to cut back on the reimbursements, leaving hospitals to pick up the tab. And hospitals, in turn, are going broke: Six have closed in the past 18 months, and half of those remaining are operating in the red.

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What a great system. No crisis here.