During the debate on Obamacare, Nancy Pelosi said tha we have to "pass it before we know what is in it".
No truer words have ever been spoke. Every month or so there seems to be another new fee or tax or penalty associated with the Affordable Care Act.
The latest penalty will be to hospitals that accept Medicare patients. The penalty will be given to hospitals who have a high readmission rate for Medicare patients. Hospitals with a high 30-day readmission rate will be penalized. Currently, that is about two-thirds of all US hospitals.
The penalty will appear as reduced hospital payments by Medicare. Starting in October, the penalty will be one percent. It will rise to three percent in 2014.
Doctors have noted that a high admission rate can result in lower mortality rates. Sunil Kripalani, MD, a professor with Vanderbilt University Medical Center asks, "So, which would we rather have -- a hospital readmission or a death?" We now know what Obamacare would prefer.
More from Fox News
No comments:
Post a Comment