Feds try to cut costs of hospital errors

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has proposed adding dangerous blood clots in the leg and eight other conditions to the list of complications that Medicare won’t pay to treat if they were acquired at the hospital. The proposed rule would add nine conditions to the eight already outlined, and would apply to more than 3,500 acute care hospitals. The government estimates the proposed rule will save Medicare an estimated $50 million annually during each of the next three years.