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AHA Rejects Proposed Readmission Penalties
In a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the American Hospital Association objects to several parts of the proposed Inpatient Prospective Payment System rule, saying federal officials "ignored Congress's intent" in drafting the regulations.
Rick Pollack is right on target with his criticisms of this CMS readmission penalty rule. Study after study have pointed out that patients in the lower socio-economic rung tend to have more co-mobidities; they tend to have less access to health care information; they often don't have access to primary care services; they don't have the same level of compliance to accepted health care guidelines for self care, etc. Their re-admission rate is bound to be higher and many of these patients are under Medicaid or are uninsured so hospitals taking care of a disproportionate share of these patients will be unfairly penalized. This CMS rule is a utopian rule not grounded in reality. Tom Johnson, LFACHE