- Center on Health Equity and Access
- Clinical
- Health Care Cost
- Health Care Delivery
- Insurance
- Policy
- Technology
- Value-Based Care
Penalties for Medicare Readmission High in Hospitals
Hospitals that primarily serve Medicare patients are being unfairly penalized for readmission rates. Medicare patients often lack needed medications as well as access to doctors who can monitor their recuperation. This frequently leads to the higher readmission rates due to health complications. Kaiser Health News reports:
The financial penalties that Medicare imposes on hospitals with high rates of patient readmissions are too harsh for hospitals serving the poor and should be changed, according to a congressional advisory agency.
Since last fall, Medicare has been reducing its payments to 2,213 hospitals under a provision in the health care law that aims to improve quality at the nation's hospitals. The penalties kick in when patients with heart failure, heart attack or pneumonia are readmitted at higher than expected rates within 30 days.
While the Medicare policy seems to be having an effect - facilities are scurrying to keep better tabs on their high-risk patients after discharge - some hospital officials and other experts say the penalties are unfair because hospitals that treat the poorest patients are getting hit harder than others.
Read the full story here: http://bit.ly/19zTgiI
Prices for care at hospital trauma centers vary across hospitals; drug shortages reached a record high during the first quarter of 2024; although 3 of the biggest makers of asthma inhalers pledged to cap out-of-pocket costs for some US patients at $35, these do not apply to daily inhalers used by the youngest kids with asthma.
Read More
Navigating Health Policy in an Election Year: Insights From Dr Dennis Scanlon
April 2nd 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with Dennis Scanlon, PhD, the editor in chief of The American Journal of Accountable Care®, about prior authorization, price transparency, the impact of health policy on the upcoming election, and more.
Listen
The Biden administration recently launched the Global Health Security Strategy, a new effort to combat the spread of infectious diseases; lawmakers zeroed in on the risks of massive consolidation in health care during the first congressional hearing on the Change Healthcare hack; the FDA recently announced the recall of a pair of heart devices linked to numerous deaths and injuries.
Read More
Exploring Medicare Advantage Prior Authorization Variations
March 26th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the March 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on variations in prior authorization use across Medicare Advantage plans.
Listen
