FL heart patient too sick for Medicare
Miami Herald, August 3, 2012
Jim Kuhn can be kept alive by a $90,000 heart pump, but his doctors and family say hospitals won't take his case because he has run out of Medicare days. For the past seven months, Kuhn, 53, has been in intensive care in a West Palm Beach hospital with a failing heart. But a combination of little-known Medicare limitations, hospital requirements and, most recently, uncertainty over Kuhn's ability to endure the surgery have amounted to a life-or-death situation for the former truck driver. As Kuhn waits in a hospital bed, his family hopes his condition will stabilize while they and senators, including Miami's Marco Rubio, search for a way to get him the help he needs.
Most Viewed
Most Emailed
- $6.4B Henry Ford, Beaumont Merger Failed on Cultural Hurdles
- House Lawmakers Grill CMS Over Health Exchange Navigators
- Don't Let Nurses Sink Your Bottom Line
- Fortunately, Angelina Jolie Isn't On Medicare
- How Chargemaster Data May Affect Hospital Revenue
- Insurer's App Aims to Lower Healthcare Costs, Securely
- ED Physicians Key to Half of Hospital Admissions
- Primary Care Docs Average More Hospital Revenue Than Specialists
- Uncompensated Care Faces a Double Hit in Some States
- Hospital Pricing Transparency a Marketing Game Changer
