A Colorado Republican lawmaker withdrew his own bill on retiree health care after public outcry that the measure would knock thousands of eligible Medicare recipients out of the program.

The number of legal services requested by plan participants for debt and financial matters more than doubled, and requests for bankruptcy counsel increased nearly threefold from 2007-2011, Hyatt Legal Plans finds.

Kansas officials announced Wednesday that five companies have submitted bids for three contracts to manage Medicaid, but skeptics of Gov. Sam Brownback's plan to overhaul the state's $2.9 billion-a-year program saw it as another sign of potential problems.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo told the Legislature on Wednesday that he's willing to risk a shut-down of government to create a cheaper pension system for the next generations of public workers.