Hospitals feeling pinch from reduced Medicare payments

Financial penalties for hospitals under the Affordable Care Act are making themselves felt locally and nationwide. Hospitals whose rate is judged too high for hospital-acquired conditions or presumably preventable conditions — such as infections patients acquire in the hospital — get reduced Medicare payments this fiscal year, which started Oct. 1. Heart of Florida Regional Medical Center, Haines City, is the only one in Polk County this fiscal year to be penalized for having too high a rate of hospital-acquired conditions, according to data from the federal government. It's one of about 724 nationwide. Penalties will reach an estimated $373 million for those hospitals, whose Medicare payments will be lowered by 1 percent, according to Kaiser Health News.