Unbelievable Medicare Changes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Guest guest]

It's unbelievable. I am going to quote an article from our Sunday paper.

"IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

No pay for mistakes: Medicare will stop paying the costs of treating infections, falls, objects left in surgical patients and other things that happen in hospitals that could have been prevented.

The rule change announced this month is among several initiatives intended to improve the accuracy of Medicare's payment for patients and to encourage hospitals to improve the quality of their services."

I don't know how many of us are affected by this ruling, but I can speak from personal experience that, if I was covered by Medicare when I contracted the nosocomial infection during an ERCP, it would have been a financial disaster for us. The infection necessitated a 7 hour surgery by two transplant doctors and over three weeks in the hospital with countless tests and procedures. The tab came to several hundreds of thousands! I'm not sure of the total cost since all of the hospitalizations (sometimes as often as once a month for almost 2 1/2 years) following the surgery were directly related to that infection.

While our government is trying to reduce malpractice lawsuits and limit a patient's ability to sue, they are instituting a rule change that will cause financial disaster unless we do sue the hospitals. By the way, catastrophic medical bills is one of the four or five primary reasons for personal bankruptcy filings.

Does anyone in their right mind think that this edict will prevent nosocomial infections or make surgeons look more carefully for sponges?

I hope that this madness does not spread to our private insurance companies or HMOs!

Does anyone think that writing our legislators will help?

Penny

[Guest guest]

>>> No pay for mistakes: Medicare will stop paying the costs of treating

infections, falls, objects left in surgical patients and other things

that happen in hospitals that could have been prevented.

I think you'll find this is going to be a really good thing for

patients and Medicare. The new rules don't/won't deny coverage for

infections like the one Penny had, or one from a PICC line, etc. It

will still pay for those kinds of things.

It denies payment only for infections/mistakes the hospital has made.

For example: If a patient got an infection because equipment wasn't

properly cleaned, or a wound wasn't taken care of the right way. If a

patient was given the wrong blood type and needed an extended stay or

other drugs to correct the wrong blood. If the patient got bedsores

(Ken's a perfect example - his Medicare paid for the creams, the

cushion Ken had to sit on and the special " shoes " he got for his

feet.) Medicare is saying - why should we (the tax payers)pay for your

mistakes? Well, we're not going to pay for it anymore! This is a

good thing! Hospitals will think twice about how they treat (or in

some cases not treat) patients, how clean they keep things, how many

mistakes they make....Every hospital will have to make new rules and

will keep an eye on every mistake staff makes, because it WILL cost

them cash - cold hard cash. That's hitting them where it hurts.

And....the new rules spell out - in no uncertain terms - that

hospitals can not pass on these " mistake bills " to the patient! This

is a good thing. I'll bet, in short order, private insurance will

pass these new rules too.

With love, Barb in Texas

Son Ken (32) UC 91 PSC 99 Tx 6/21 & 6/30/07

[Guest guest]

..

>

> For example: If a patient got an infection because equipment wasn't

> properly cleaned, or a wound wasn't taken care of the right way. If a

> patient was given the wrong blood type and needed an extended stay or

> feet.) Medicare is saying - why should we (the tax payers)pay for your

> mistakes? ...Every hospital will have to make new rules and

> will keep an eye on every mistake staff makes, because it WILL cost

> them cash - cold hard cash. That's hitting them where it hurts.

>

> And....the new rules spell out - in no uncertain terms - that

> hospitals can not pass on these " mistake bills " to the patient! This

> is a good thing. I'll bet, in short order, private insurance will

> pass these new rules too.

>

> With love, Barb in Texas

> Son Ken (32) UC 91 PSC 99 Tx 6/21 & 6/30/07

>

Barb, I hope with all my heart you are right! I still wonder if

hospitals are going to say " oops, it was our fault, we won't bill you

the $250,000. " What will patients have to do to prove that the

equipment was " dirty. " ? In my case, the supposition was that the

endoscope was not bacteria free............

Penny