] In a letter to Congress two months ago, 104 bankruptcy
] law professors predicted that "the deepest hardship"
] would "be felt in the heartland," where the filing rates
] are highest -Utah, Tennessee, Georgia, Nevada, Indiana,
] Alabama, Arkansas, Ohio, Mississippi and Idaho. A study
] conducted by legal and medical specialists at Harvard
] University of 1,771 personal bankruptcy filers in five
] federal courts found that about half were forced into
] bankruptcy because of heavy medical costs.

The house version eliminates the homestead loophole that was causing even international observers to cry foul. The senate version doesn't do this. I don't fully understand the rules for how those kinds of things get resolved. I've heard that minor differences don't require the involvement of conference committee, but how is the final law determined?