The economics of treating the sick among us has reduced the numbers of solo practitioners and independent community hospitals.

FORBES: UPDATE: Another Hospital Bid Rigging Defendant Pleads Out In NY Federal Case

Headley Court has been treating the war-wounded and sick service personnel since World War II, but has rapidly expanded while treating the wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan.

BBC: Headley Court rehab unit given extra ?5m by MoD

This has an appealing logic: Medicare has borne much of the cost of treating sick smokers, after all.

ECONOMIST: Phil Gramm goes shooting

In 1994, Florida legislators bulldozed these principles so the state Medicaid agency could sue cigarette makers for the cost of treating sick smokers.

WSJ: Jenkins: The 5th Avenue to Serfdom

The industry's shrewdest move was to defuse a barrage of cases brought by individual states, aiming to reclaim the cost of treating sick smokers.

ECONOMIST: Tobacco

Vaccinating a healthy baby may not seem as urgent as treating a sick patient, but the long-term costs of not doing so are incalculable.

CNN: CHILDREN OF THE CRISIS

Hospitals have been treating more patients than ever, but the queue of sick people waiting for admission is longer than ever.

ECONOMIST: Health and education