ABC News: Hospitals to Face Penalties for Patient Readmission

December 21, 2011

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“Medicare is preparing to penalize hospitals with frequent, potentially avoidable readmissions, which by one estimate costs the government $12 billion a year. But this new policy is likely to disproportionately affect hospitals that treat the lowest-income patients, according to a Kaiser Health News analysis of data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services”

” By 2014, hospitals with high readmission rates stand to lose up to 3 percent of their regular Medicare reimbursements. Although Medicare hasn’t finished determining exactly how the penalties will work, the Advisory Board Company, a Washington consulting firm, estimates that as many as 2,300 hospitals may lose money because of the rule, with Medicare dinging the worst performers up to $500,000″

Besides nanny statism,  anybody wish to venture a guess where such a policy could lead eventually lead for chronic sufferers?

ABC News

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