Hospital Readmit Penalties Save $2 Billion; Could Be Expanded

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission released its annual June Report to Congress late last week and says the hospital readmission penalties program should be dramatically expanded. The overall report examines a variety of Medicare payment system issues. Within the report, MedPAC states that Medicare readmission penalties on hospitals saved Medicare $2 billion per year without shifting patients to other services or increasing mortality rates. The Commissioners suggest that the penalties could be expanded to cover all conditions while reducing the size of penalty. Currently, as required by the ACA, hospitals are penalized for readmissions from heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia within 30 days of discharge. Additionally, as expected, MedPAC also recommended reducing payment for urban, off-campus emergency departments, while increasing payments for stand alone, rural EDs. Click here for the report, and here for the fact sheet.