In one of the darker ironies in American health care, hospitals are often paid extra to treat the problems that arise when they make mistakes. Starting late next year, Medicare won’t pay for treatment for some conditions associated with screw-ups.
Under a little-noticed new rulebook that came down last week, Medicare will return the bill unpaid for care to solve these problems:
- Bed-sores
- Two kinds of catheter-associated infections
- Air embolism, or bubbles of air or gas entering the bloodstream during medical procedures
- Mediastinitis (infection of the area between the lungs) after coronary bypass surgery
- Giving patients the wrong blood type
- Leaving objects inside surgery patients
- In-hospital falls
The government estimates its direct savings at about $20 million a year, and Medicare has said hospitals can’t turn around and stick patients with the tab. Other insurers are likely to follow suit, and hospitals may well do a better job for all patients, not just those on Medicare, say some advocates of the new rules.
