Greedy Trial Lawyer
Medicare To Hospitals: No More Pay For Bad Medicine
Category: Right On!
For the first time, hospitals and doctors will have a real incentive to eliminate errors in medical care. No more Mr. Nice Guy, says Medicare. Neither Medicare nor the patient will have to pay for the cost of medical mistakes.
Medicare Says It Won't Cover Hospital Errors
In a significant policy change, Bush administration officials say that Medicare will no longer pay the extra costs of treating preventable errors, injuries and infections that occur in hospitals, a move they say could save lives and millions of dollars.Private insurers are considering similar changes, which they said could multiply the savings and benefits for patients.
Under the new rules, to be published next week, Medicare will not pay hospitals for the costs of treating certain "conditions that could reasonably have been prevented."
Among the conditions that will be affected are bedsores, or pressure ulcers; injuries caused by falls; and infections resulting from the prolonged use of catheters in blood vessels or the bladder.
In addition, Medicare says it will not pay for the treatment of "serious preventable events" like leaving a sponge or other object in a patient during surgery and providing a patient with incompatible blood or blood products.
Lisa A. McGiffert, a health policy analyst at Consumers Union, hailed the rules.
"Hundreds of thousands of people suffer needlessly from preventable hospital infections and medical errors every year," Ms. McGiffert said. "Medicare is using its clout to improve care and keep patients safe. It's forcing hospitals to face this problem in a way they never have before."
Christine K. Cahill, a registered nurse who used to inspect hospitals for the California Department of Public Health, said: "This is a great start. Infection-control specialists have been screaming for 20 years that federal and state officials should pay more attention to this problem because hospital infections hurt patients and cost money."
The rules, first reported in The Star-Ledger of Newark, carry out a directive from Congress included in a 2006 law. When they were proposed in May, consumer advocates said they feared that some hospitals might charge patients for costs that Medicare refused to pay.
But that is forbidden. "The hospital cannot bill the beneficiary for any charges associated with the hospital-acquired complication," the final rules say.
From The New York Times
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