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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.
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Laundromats as a New Frontier in Community Health, Medicaid Outreach
May 29th 2025Lindsey Leininger, PhD, and Allister Chang, MPA, highlight the potential of laundromats as accessible, community-based settings to support Medicaid outreach, foster trust, and connect families with essential health and social services.
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From Red Tape to Relief: Rewriting the Rules of Prior Authorization
June 23rd 2025Up to 257 million Americans could benefit from these prior authorization reforms that could have cross-market implications on health care plans administered through commercial insurers, Medicare Advantage, and Medicaid.
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New Research Challenges Assumptions About Hospital-Physician Integration, Medicare Patient Mix
April 22nd 2025On this episode of Managed Care Cast, Brady Post, PhD, lead author of a study published in the April 2025 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care®, challenges the claim that hospital-employed physicians serve a more complex patient mix.
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How Value-Based Care With Provider Enablement Improves Maternal and Infant Outcomes in Medicaid
June 12th 2025Supported value-based care improves prenatal care while reducing neonatal intensive care unit stays, preterm birth rates, low birth weight rates, and costs for mothers and infants.
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