Alaska Health Plan Premiums, Highest In Nation, Are Triple Those In Phoenix
A look at the 10 least and 10 most expensive places for health insurance shows a wide gap in prices for the same type of coverage.
Is Your Heart Doctor In? If Not, You Might Be Better Off.
A new study finds that high-risk heart patients in teaching hospitals do better during the times that cardiologists gather for national conventions.
Hospital-Acquired Condition Penalties By State
Medicare is reducing payments to 721 hospitals with high rates of infections or other medical complications. About 1,400 hospitals, including all in Maryland, are excluded from the program and Medicare did not assess their rates of patient harm.
721 Hospitals Penalized For Patient Safety
Medicare is penalizing 721 hospitals with high rates of potentially avoidable mistakes that can harm patients, known as “hospital-acquired conditions.” Penalized hospitals will have their Medicare payments reduced by 1 percent over the fiscal year that runs from October 2014 through September 2015. To determine penalties, Medicare evaluated three types of HACs. One is central-line associated bloodstream infections, or CLABSIs. The second is catheter-associated urinary tract infections, or CAUTIs. The final one, Serious Complications, is based on eight types of injuries, including blood clots, bed sores and falls. Here are the hospitals that are being penalized:
Medicare Cuts Payments To 721 Hospitals With Highest Rates Of Infections, Injuries
The 1 percent penalty, mandated by the health law, will hit one of every seven hospitals in the country and fall particularly hard on academic medical centers.
Patients At Seven Miami-Dade Hospitals Are More Likely To Develop Infections
The data comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which tracks six types of frequently occurring infections in hospitals as part of an effort to reduce them.
New ACO Rules Would Delay Penalties An Extra Three Years
The government’s proposed rule addresses many concerns of accountable care organizations.
More Competition Helps Restrain Premiums In Federal Health Marketplace
In counties that are adding at least one insurer next year, average premiums for the least expensive silver plan are rising 1 percent on average, compared to 7 percent in counties where the number of insurers is not changing, KHN analysis finds.
How The Health Law Is Using Medicare To Improve Hospital Quality
Among the tools: penalties for admitting patients too soon after they were discharged and a focus on reducing hospital-acquired infections.
Hospitals Struggle To Beat Back Serious Infections
KHN reporter Jordan Rau spoke on NPR about data that say about 75,000 patients per year die from infections they got in the hospital. Nearly 700 hospitals around the U.S. have higher than expected infection rates.
Hospitals’ Struggles To Beat Back Familiar Infections Began Before Ebola Arrived
Each year about 75,000 patients die from infections they caught in the hospital. A KHN analysis of federal data shows that nearly 700 hospitals have higher than expected rates of infection for at least one condition.
Many Medicare Outpatients Pay More At Rural Hospitals, Federal Report Says
An investigation by the HHS inspector general says beneficiaries getting the treatments at “critical access” hospitals pay between two and six times more than those at other hospitals.
Medicare Fines 2,610 Hospitals In Third Round Of Readmission Penalties
Although fewer patients are now returning to the hospital within a month, the fines reached a record level this year.
A Guide To Medicare’s Readmissions Penalties And Data
The methodology behind KHN’s analysis of the third year of the Medicare penalty program.
Many Rural Hospitals Are Excluded From Government’s Push For Better Quality
A quarter of the nation’s hospitals are exempt from penalties, quality bonuses and other payment reforms.
One-Quarter Of ACOs Save Enough Money To Earn Bonuses
About a quarter of the 243 groups of hospitals and doctors that banded together as accountable care organizations under the Affordable Care Act saved Medicare enough money to earn bonuses, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced Tuesday. Those 64 ACOs earned a combined $445 million in bonuses, the agency said. Medicare saved $372 […]
CDC Survey Finds Drop In Uninsured
This KHN story can be republished for free. (details) UPDATED AT 12:10 P.M. The federal government’s first survey of the nation’s insured rate since the health care law’s new marketplaces began found a decrease in the number of adults without coverage, particularly among young adults. The National Health Interview Survey of people during the first […]
First Look At Medicare Quality Incentive Program Finds Little Benefit
One of Medicare’s attempts to improve medical quality –by rewarding or penalizing hospitals — did not lead to improvements in the first nine months of the program, a study has found. The quality program, known as Hospital Value-Based Purchasing, is a pillar of the federal health law’s campaign to use the government’s financial muscle to […]
A Tennessee Insurer Uses Its Monopoly To Deliver Bargain Premiums
BlueCross BlueShield’s near dominance and hospitals’ lack of negotiating clout are key reasons Chattanooga has among the lowest priced coverage in the nation.
Unfavorable Views Of Health Law Spike In July: Poll
The health law’s unpopularity among the public rose sharply in July with a surge of disapproval from people who had been agnostic about it in recent months, a poll released Friday shows. The law is as unpopular as it has been since it was enacted four years ago. The poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation […]
