More than 9 in 10 general acute-care hospitals have been penalized at least once in the past decade.
The federal government’s hospital penalty program finishes its first decade by lowering payments to nearly half the nation’s hospitals for readmitting too many Medicare patients within a month. Penalties, though often small, are credited with helping reduce the number of patients returning for another Medicare stay within 30 days.
Starting today, Medicare is keeping half a billion dollars in payments from 83% of general hospitals for having too many patients come back.