The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • 8

THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION Monday, April 14, 1986, nr t-'m r. i-- r. it I Hospitals overbill U.S. onMedicare by $170 million United Pteu International WASHINGTON Hospitals throughout the United States overcharged the federal government, often deliberately, by more than 1170 million for care for elderly Medicare patients in 1984 and 1985, investigations have found. But officials of the Health and Human Services Department said the agency would not try to recoup its excess payments to hospitals because of "administrative" and "technical" difficulties involved.

Those charges, the officials said, ultimately will be borne by taxpayers. Hospitals erroneously assigned more than half the cases examined to categories of breathing and circulatory problems that triggered improperly high Medicare payments, the department's inspector general said in unreleased March reports made available to United Press International. Richard Kusserow, the department inspector general, blamed many case misclassifications on hospital staff members deliberately trying to elicit higher payments. However, an administrator at the George Washington University Medical Center in Washington said the reports failed to consider that many financially strapped hospitals are losing money because Medicare does not cover some costs of essential care. To cut soaring medical costs, the department set up a fixed payment scheme by which it started reimbursing hospitals for inpatient care of Medicare patients in 1983.

Previously, hospitals were paid for costs they said they incurred. The department established hundreds of categories of medical diagnoses, called diagnostic-related groups, that a hospital assigns to patient problems. A case in each group draws a different predetermined payment from the mm mmj JOHNSPINKStalf An American flag and flowers are left behind by a visitor to the JVloving Wall in Woodruff Park on Sunday. mm re-styled body aimed at bringing the aerodynamics of the 240 to a new low. Which is another reason why it's high-time you stopped by our Volvo showroom for a test drive.

Based on an actuarial analysis of the 1983-1984 US. Registration Data conducted by Ken Warwick Associates. Due to many factors including maintenance, driving conditions and habits, your Volvo may not last as long. Then again, it may last longer. Summary available at your Volvo dealer.

Most people would be happy to build a car with an average life expectancy of 15.6 years But Volvo engineers are harder to satisfy than most people. That's why, for 1986, they've made improvements in the Volvo 240. Improvements that include heated front seats, more comprehensive rastproofing and a Vietnam FrontPage 1-A these were not the crazed vets of tThe Deer Hunter" or the killing machines of "Rambo." They were family men with baby carriers on their backs who had come to share part of their past with their wives and children. Many of the children were too young to understand the significance of the wall. "Why isn't your name up there with your friends, Daddy?" asked one 5-year-old.

"Just lucky, I guess," his father answered. While his three young children played on the grass, Ken Robbins, 36, sat for more than an hour in front of the panels that covered the 11 months he served in Vietnam. "I knew everybody by nicknames, so I'm scanning it month by month to see if I can find any familiar names." he said. UtJtKI FESCUE SOD 968-3424 CHRIS IMPORTS 2215 COBB PKWY. 952-1800 5260 PEACHTREE IND.

BLVD. 452-0077 Leadership Program. "It allowed them to separate an unpopular war from the men and women who fought it." The memories of many veterans at the Moving Wall testified to just how unpopular the Vietnam War was. Michael Fredrick of Atlanta remembered the jubilation he felt as the plane bringing him back from his tour touched down in Fort Lewis outside Tacoma, in 1970. "We are all so happy to get back, to be home" said Fredrick, 37.

"But when we got off the plane, there was no band, no thank you, and they searched me for drugs." "When I came back from Viet nam, people were spitting on you," recalled Dennis Hancharik, 39. "The first thing I wanted to do was go home and get out of my uniform. Now you can hold your head up." Hancharik had gone to Washington in 1984 to see the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. "But I walked to the top of the hill and walked away. I wasn't ready for it." 1 He said that a lot of soul-searching led him to visit the Moving Wall, where he looked for the names of four buddies.

Before the afternoon was over, Hancharik had volunteered to work during the week to help visitors locate names. The Moving Wall was conceived and built by San Jose, veteran John Devitt, who accompanied it to Atlanta; Devitt and two friends, Gerry Haver and Norris Shears, began the wall as a weekend project, but it took two years and $28,000 in contributions and donated supplies to complete the 148 panels. White epoxy paint was used to create the raised letters that allow families to make rubbings of the names of their loved ones. Several veterans said that more than a memorial to the past, they wanted the wall to become a warning for the future. "I hope the wall will prevent another Vietnam from happening again," said Hancharik.

"God, I hope so." '86 Volvos come with a 3-year limited warranty (hat puts no limit on mileage. See your Volvo dealer for terms and conditions. raw nminnin uminw Doug Talley, 48, of Marietta recognized too many names. A former Marine, he served five tours of duty and trained the first Marines who fought in the war. Looking at the wall, Talley remembered the 18-year-olds he had taught, and asked, "Why them and not us? What made the difference for those who came back and those who didn't." There were tears of recognition for single names as well as tears for the thousands.

Seventeen-year-old Courtney Cotton of Atlanta wasn't even born when the first casualties occurred in Vietnam in 1959. Yet she broke down at her first sight of the wall. "Why isn't Vietnam considered a war if all these people are dead?" she asked, her eyes red with tears. To many, the wall has become a validation of the Vietnam veteran. "The wall in Washington and, by extension, the Moving Wall was a catharsis for the American people," said Ron Miller, executive director of the Georgia Vietnam Veterans mmmmmmmmmmm I ambulance arrived, and tell into the procession moving slowly down Ash-by Street, Daniels said.

"They walked with this man for more than a quarter of a mile," said homicide Sgt J.T. Turner. The officers, one in a patrol car and the rest on foot, followed the suspect to the corner of Ashby Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, ordering him all the while to drop the gun, Daniels said. There the suspect turned east and walked about 1,000 feet He yelled "Shoot me! Shoot me!" as he turned and leveled his pistol at the officer in the car, Daniels said.

Turner said five officers opened fire at Mitchell, hitting him twice. Brown, who said he was passing the scene on his bicycle, described the shooting as "like a chain reaction After that one shot, that's all she wrote." He said that the officers "gave the guy every chance to drop that gun." Police are not yet clear who fired first However, Turner said, a total of seven shots were fired, six by officers and one by Mitchell The five officers who fired and three to four others who were present will not be suspended during the investigation, which was to begin Monday morning, Turner said. Throughout Sunday afternoon, grim-faced patrol officers with empty holsters sat at the homicide task force's West Peachtree Street headquarters giving statements to detectives. Their weapons lay on a table for inspection. The officers involved were not identified Sunday, pending the end of the investigation.

Staff writers Hence D. Turner and Priscilla Painton also contributed to this report Standoff From Page 1-A down the middle of Ashby Street waving a knife and pistol, Daniels said. Arnold called for backup and asked that the SWAT team bring nets and Tasers, Daniels said. Tasers are electric stun guns that can be fired from 12 feet away. The SWAT team never appeared, Daniels said.

Maj. W.W. Holley, commander of the special operations unit, which includes the SWAT team, said that Sunday is the one day all SWAT members have a day off. "Any other day you can have them there in no time," he said. "Sunday is the day, statistically, when you need SWAT the least.

It's just unfortunate this happened on a Sunday." It can tke as long as 30 minutes to summon SWAT members from home on Sunday, he said. iEven if SWAT had arrived, non-thai weapons probably wouldn't nave been the appropriate response, he said. "A Taser is effective aainst a knife or stick, but it is not recommended against a firearm," Holley said. I After calling in his report, Arnold began following the man, who was waving a revolver above his head and gripping a knife ir) his other hand, Daniels said. Arnold followed the suspect for tf blocks before other patrol cars btgan arriving, Daniels said.

A witness, James Brown of Atlanta, 24, said several officers set up a cordon a(ound tha scene to keep bystanders from getting too close. The Grady Bigger balance checking accounts entitle you service charge and no per-check charge. Irs a way i to a few extra privileges. Andwith Decatur Federal's your larger balance.can provide all the advantages, new High Interest Checking account, you get them. of a checking account while earning 612 interests Every High Interest Checking cr-nara So don't wait.

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