Medicare Ditches Plan To Bury Hospital Safety Data Next Year
Officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services had said months ago that due to covid, hospital safety data would be distorted and therefore less useful to the public. In its reversal Monday, however, Stat reports that CMS officials recognized “the importance of this measure for patients and providers.” Separately, news outlets cover rising maternal mortality rates among women on Medicaid, and Medicaid coverage loss.
Stat:
Medicare Reverses Course On Plan To Hide Hospital Safety Data Next Year
Medicare will continue to report hospital safety data as usual next year after the program, apparently swayed by backlash from patient safety advocates, reversed course on its plan to keep some information under wraps. (Bannow, 8/2)
Fierce Healthcare:
Patient Safety Advocate Cheers CMS' Reversal On Quality Reporting, But Hospitals Say The Data Are No Good
The agency’s decision received a warm welcome from The Leapfrog Group, a patient safety watchdog that has been petitioning the government via letters, reports and informational webinars to keep the hospital quality measure available to the public. (Muoio, 8/3)
In other Medicare news —
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Johnson Wants Medicare, Social Security To Be Discretionary Programs
Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson indicated Tuesday that Medicare and Social Security should be subjected to annual budget deliberations, a move that could upend guaranteed benefits relied upon by millions of Americans. (Glauber, 8/2)
And in news about Medicaid —
Missouri Independent:
Missouri's Maternal Mortality Rates Are Getting Even Worse, Especially For Women On Medicaid
A multi-year report analyzing maternal mortality in Missouri and published Monday found that women on Medicaid are eight times more likely to die within one year of pregnancy than their counterparts with private health insurance. (Weinberg, 8/2)
New Hampshire Public Radio:
Thousands In N.H. Risk Losing Medicaid Coverage Without Pandemic Protections
During the COVID-19 pandemic, New Hampshire and other states have been required to keep people enrolled in Medicaid throughout the ongoing federal public health emergency — even if they haven’t filed key paperwork or have lost eligibility due to a change in income, for example. It’s not clear when the federal public health emergency will end, but when it does, about 90,000 Granite Staters could risk losing Medicaid access. (Fam, 8/2)
KHN:
They Lost Medicaid When Paperwork Was Sent To An Empty Field, Signaling The Mess To Come
Three years ago, Mason Lester, a rambunctious toddler, tumbled off his family’s porch and broke his wrist. His mother, nine months pregnant, rushed him to a nearby hospital, where she made a confounding discovery: Their health insurance had vanished. Alarmed, Katie Lester called the Tennessee Medicaid agency, TennCare, which had covered her during a prior pregnancy and insured Mason since the day he was born. (Kelman, 8/3)
