Obama signs Medicare observation stays bill

(By – Virgil Dickson, www.modernhealthcare.com)

President Barack Obama has signed a bill that requires hospitals to notify Medicare patients when they are receiving observation care but have not been admitted. The bill is meant to help address a recurring problem for beneficiaries who face sticker shock when they go to a skilled-nursing or rehab facility after leaving the hospital and find that Medicare won’t cover the tab. That’s because to qualify for skilled-nursing facility coverage, beneficiaries must first spend three consecutive midnights as an admitted patient in a hospital; observation days don’t count. Read more…

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