The Medicare hospital admission penalty may impact your ability to obtain treatment as a hospital inpatient. Haven’t hear of the Medicare hospital admission penalty? 
Not surprising.
Most haven’t.
Twenty Colorado hospitals face penalties in the coming year for seeing too many discharged Medicare patients come back within a month, small hits that nevertheless sting in an era of quality measurements and patient-centered care.
Hospitals will lose up to 1 percent of the next year’s Medicare payments if they readmitted too high a proportion of their patients
9 News, “Medicare hospital admission penalties”
How does this impact you?
In an effort to avoid the Medicare penalty, hospitals may decide to refuse admission to those with chronic or serious medical conditions.
Think about it.
If your medical condition can be treated and discharged with little likelihood of recurrence, finding a hospital that is willing to admit you should not be a problem. But those with difficult to treat conditions will find hospital admission a challenge.
Though a small portion of future bills, the penalties add up as Medicare payments often constitute half of a hospital’s overall revenue. On a $10,000 inpatient bill, a 1 percent penalty would cost the hospital $100 of the Medicare reimbursement.
Bit by bit, the Medicare hospital admission penalty can be devastating.
