Aren't you glad the government is in the health care business?

 

Last October, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services began fining more than 2,000 hospitals for excessive patient readmissions in three diagnostic categories: heart failure, pneumonia, and heart attack. That means if you have a heart attack and they send you home after a week or so, and you start having chest pains again, they'll have to pay a fine if they readmit you. Ditto for pneumonia -- if they send you home and you have a relapse, it's unlikely they'll put you back in the hospital where you belong.

 

Next year, they'll add a few more categories to the list: COPD, and hip and knee replacement surgeries. Federal health officials say the new fines are "triggering a noticeable reduction in readmissions." No fooling? Have we also noticed them triggering a noticeable increase in mortality rates? "We're hoping that the Affordable Care Act may already be making a difference in the quality of health care," said Niall Brennan of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Alas, I fear Niall has hit the nail on the head!

 

"Health law spurs hospitals to focus on cutting readmissions." The Dallas Morning News; June 12, 2013; p. 1A.