News

News

Medicare Will Stop Reimbursing "Preventable Errors" on Oct. 1

Starting Wednesday (Oct. 1, 2008), Medicare will not pay the extra costs caused by preventable hospital-acquired infections and medical errors. And hospitals will not be allowed to bill Medicare patients for the payments the government withheld. Doctors, however, will be paid for treating those patients' conditions. Also, the government health plan, which covers the elderly and disabled, will not pay anything to doctors or hospitals for what the government calls "never events," including surgery on the wrong body part or on the wrong patient.

The steps are an effort to make hospitals safer and encourage them to reduce the chance of hospital-acquired conditions, like some infections, advanced bed sores or fractures; and to reduce preventable errors. Many private insurance companies, including Aetna, Cigna and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, intend to follow suit. They, too, have announced they would withhold hospital payments for mistakes.

Click here for the New York Times article.
 

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