Government
Pa. Medicaid to stop reimbursing for hospital-acquired conditions
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Feb. 18, 2008
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell announced in January that the state's Medicaid program no longer will pay for costs associated with 27 so-called never events, such as wrong-site surgery, that kill or maim patients. The Hospital and Healthsystem Assn. of Pennsylvania, which mostly represents hospitals, worked with Rendell to develop the new payment policy.
The change applies only to patients enrolled in the program's fee-for-service component. This population accounts for about one-third of the 1.9 million low-income Pennsylvanians covered under Medicaid. The move comes on the heels of a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services decision to stop reimbursing for care associated with eight hospital-acquired conditions. Hospitals must stop charging CMS for those conditions beginning in October.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/02/18/gvbf0218.htm.
