CMS completely ignores the issue of non-compliance. There is a group of patients who despite the best discharge planning will not comply with discharge instruction. Unless hospitals are going to be given the power to arrest these patients and force compliance CMS shouldn't hold a hospital responsible their actions.
As the majority of discharge plans involve medications you have to factor that in. As the Medicare drug benefit was designed to deliver maximum profit to the pharmaceutical and insurance industry rather than medication to senior citizens there are many holes in it. If a patient cant afford the drugs they are prescribed should the hospital be accountable for our corrupt political system? If so will Medicare reimbursement increase to compensate? No, it is being cut.
I have been in health care for over 30 years and feel that, advancements in technology aside, the care patients received in the past was much better than today. The US has the shortest hospital stays in the developed world. Patients have been thrown out sicker and quicker for too long. The problem is money. Will Medicare reimbursements increase to cover longer stays? Of course not they are being cut.
This policy will put a tremendous strain on non-profit hospitals. The for-profit hospital industry will respond by using traditional and find new ways to avoid this patient demographic. They are great at figuring out ways to dump unprofitable patients.
There are 2 huge problems in our health care system The presence of the parasitic insurance industry which drains the system of billions of dollars while contributing nothing in return and the idea that profit is more important than patient care. The ACO did not address these issues it left them essentially untouched. CMS implementing idiotic policies to fund more corporate welfare are only going to hurt people and make it more difficult to deliver patient care.
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