Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Medicare Proposes To Ease Coverage Rules On Short Hospital Stays
The Associated Press: Medicare Proposes Coverage Change On Short Hospital Stays
Medicare proposed Wednesday to ease a coverage policy on short hospital stays that has been criticized because it can result in higher costs for seniors. Under Medicare, coverage for inpatient and outpatient care is determined under very different payment rules. In some cases, a hospital admission classified as inpatient can result in lower bills for beneficiaries. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 7/1)
Politico Pro: CMS Proposes Two-Midnight Modifications
CMS wants to revise a controversial Medicare policy for determining how hospitals are paid for patients who have shorter stays. The agency on Wednesday proposed several major changes that would make it easier to get an exception to the “two-midnight” rule, which defines “inpatients” as individuals who doctors believe will need to spend at least two nights in the hospital. The designation of “inpatient” and “outpatient” determines the level of payment that hospitals receive under Medicare. (Mershon, 7/1)
Modern Healthcare: CMS Will Modify—Not Scrap—'Two-Midnight' Rule
The CMS plans to soften but keep the controversial "two-midnight" rule governing short hospital stays in spite of aggressive calls from providers and policy experts to abandon the policy. In a proposed payment rule posted Wednesday, the Obama administration said it plans to allow physicians to exercise judgment to admit patients for short hospital stays on a case-by-case basis. The CMS also said it would remove oversight of those decisions from its administrative contractors and instead ask quality improvement organizations to enforce the policy. Recovery audit contractors, meanwhile, would be directed to focus only on hospitals with unusually high rates of denied claims. (Dickson, 7/1)
