Patient Power

Medicare Won’t Pay for Medical Errors

From the New York Times:

If an auto mechanic accidentally breaks your windshield while trying to repair the engine, he would never get away with billing you for fixing his mistake. On Wednesday, Medicare will start applying that logic to American medicine on a broad scale when it stops paying hospitals for the added cost of treating patients who are injured in their care.

Check out Paul Hsieh’s post for some of the disturbing unintended consequences.

• More doctors drop Medicare patients
• Medicare pays squat, Pathways HomeCare Center closes
• “Medicare has lower administrative costs”
• Dehumanizing doctors
• Incremental persuasion: Medicare and Medicaid