MEDICARE, MEDICAID CHIEF TO STEP DOWN.(MAIN)

WASHINGTON -- Thomas Scully, the Bush administration official who oversees Medicare and Medicaid, says he will resign this month.

Scully helped shape Medicare overhaul legislation that Congress passed last week. White House officials said President Bush will sign the bill Monday.

That work completed, Scully told The Washington Post, ``I'm checking out of Dodge.''

Scully will step down on Dec. 16 as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a branch of the Health and Human Services Department, that oversees the health insurance programs for the elderly, disabled and poor. He said he wanted to spend more time with his three …