As part of the annual update to inpatient hospital reimbursement under the Medicare program, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is again considering observation status.  This time CMS is proposing "a time-based presumption of medical necessity for hospital inpatient services based on the beneficiary's length of stay."  78 Fed. Reg. 27486, 47644 … Read more →

On July 30, 2012, as part of proposed rulemaking on the outpatient prospective payment system, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) asked for public comment on potential policy options related to "observation status."[1] What is Observation Status? Observation status refers to the classification of a patient in an acute care hospital as an … Read more →

August 9, 2012 Note to Alert readers: This Posted version contains additional information beyond that in the emailed version. As part of a notice of proposed rulemaking published in the Federal Register on July 30, 2012, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is asking for public comments on potential policy changes related to … Read more →

Two websites that help Americans make informed choices about hospitals and nursing homes have been redesigned and will make more information available to the public, CMS announced on July 19, 2012. The two sites – Hospital Compare and Nursing Home Compare – have been enhanced to make navigation easier by users, and have added important … Read more →

Hospital case managers and the hospital industry have joined the chorus of those opposed to observation status – a designation that renders a beneficiary ineligible for Medicare-covered skilled nursing facility (SNF) care.  This Alert discusses a recent survey by the American Case Management Association and an amicus brief filed by the American Hospital Association in … Read more →

Since 2008, the Center for Medicare Advocacy (the Center) has been reporting that an increasing number of Medicare beneficiaries are being placed in acute care hospital beds for multiple days – receiving medical and nursing care, diagnostic tests, treatments, medications, and food – but are being called "outpatients" in observation status, rather than admitted "inpatients."[1]  … Read more →

Reducing hospital readmissions is generating lots of confusion.  The rules are complicated.  In addition, some hospitals, facilities, and health care networks have adopted protocols, and have in place some level of procedures for reduction in hospital readmissions in advance of the requirements set forth in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In general, the Centers for Medicare … Read more →

For several years, reducing rehospitalizations of Medicare beneficiaries has been a key public policy goal, the intent of which is to improve quality of care for beneficiaries and reduce costs for the Medicare program.[1]  Studies have shown that rehospitalizations are common and expensive.  In 2006, for example, nearly one-quarter of nursing home residents (23.5%) were … Read more →

The Center for Medicare Advocacy has heard increasingly about beneficiaries throughout the country whose entire stays in a hospital, including stays as long as 14 days, are classified by the hospital as outpatient observation.  In some instances, the beneficiaries' physicians order their admission, but the hospital retroactively reverses the decision.  As a consequence of the classification of … Read more →

Coalition Urges Congress to Pass Legislation Safeguarding Medicare Beneficiaries' Skilled Nursing Care For Immediate Release October 21, 2012   Terry Berthelot 860-456-7790 Toby Edelman 202-293-5760 Washington, DC. – A Congressional briefing on "observation status," sponsored by Congressman Joe Courtney (D. CT), was held yesterday afternoon to examine Medicare beneficiaries' being denied Medicare coverage for care … Read more →