Medicare Will Not Cover Hospital Errors
Robert Pear of the New York Times reports:
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.
If medicare and private insurance will not pay for these errors then who do you think will be paying? This new initiative leaves the injured party as the likely target to pay these bills. As I understand it the Bush administration has been working tirelessly to limit the rights of injured people to recover their damages in court and now they are saying medicare will not pay either.
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