FAQ: Medicare Beneficiaries May See Increased Access To Physical Therapy Or Some Other Services
For years, seniors were told that they had to show improvement to keep getting skilled care but a lawsuit has changed that standard.
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For years, seniors were told that they had to show improvement to keep getting skilled care but a lawsuit has changed that standard.
Pleasing patients has become more important to hospitals as Medicare takes consumers views into account when setting payments. Most hospitals are getting better, but others have not improved since the government started publishing ratings six years ago.
Some hospital revenue is now going to be tied to how happy you - the patient - are when you stay there. But not all hospitals are going to be capable of winning the Medicare sweepstakes.
For many physicians, normal pressure hydrocephalus, or NPH, doesn’t come to mind when they see people with cognitive and gait problems, although it is one of the few treatable causes of dementia.
The 2010 health law called for an experiment to see if allowing patients to continue to have lifesaving treatments when they join hospice would improve their quality of care and save money.
After sitting out the first full year of Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, lawmakers in Montana have moved on to arguing -- not about whether -- but about how much federal cash to pull down.
Evidence shows hospice care can extend life and save money, but only if patients and doctors dare ask for the help. One New Yorker said hospice gave her back a normal life — at peace, pain subdued.
Outside of the heat of election season, a House subcommittee chaired by GOP Rep. Kevin Brady begins examining options for cost savings in traditional Medicare. KHN's Mary Agnes Carey and Jackie Judd discuss the proceedings.
Marilyn Tavenner, the acting head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and President Obama's nominee to keep the job, found both Democratic and Republican support during a Senate Finance Committee hearing today. KHN's Mary Agnes Carey talks with Jackie Judd about the hearing and when the Senate could vote on the confirmation.
Some advocates are concerned that the Medicare Advantage plans have incentives to skim off the lowest-maintenance customers and leave the expensive patients to the traditional program.
The report suggests that cutting payments in areas that pay more per beneficiary, such as Manhattan and Florida, could hit hospitals and doctors who are not providing expensive care.
Federal funding for Medicaid is untouched but doctors, hospitals and other Medicare providers will see a 2 percent reduction.
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