kwillia
n/a
It never crossed my mind that hospitals expected you to pay for their screw ups...
It's not clear how many private patients or their insurers are still billed for medical mistakes, but a July study by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality estimated that preventable errors that occur during or after surgery may cost employers nearly $1.5 billion a year.
Tennessee is among 23 states that have approved non-payment policies for specific mistakes, with at least three more expected to do so by fall, a new review shows. Hospitals in another eight states have agreed to general guidelines that advise eliminating bills on a case-by-case basis for errors proven to be both serious and preventable.
The remaining states have not adopted even those voluntary standards, a concept that still stuns Patty Canakaris, 63, of St. Augustine, Fla. Her 67-year-old brother, Blake Oliver, died in December after a Florida hospital mistakenly gave him type A positive blood instead of type O positive blood during a transfusion for a simple operation.
“With something this horrific, whether they’ve operated on the wrong person or removed the wrong finger, they shouldn’t expect reimbursement,” she said.
More states shred bills for awful medical errors - Health care - MSNBC.com
It's not clear how many private patients or their insurers are still billed for medical mistakes, but a July study by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality estimated that preventable errors that occur during or after surgery may cost employers nearly $1.5 billion a year.
Tennessee is among 23 states that have approved non-payment policies for specific mistakes, with at least three more expected to do so by fall, a new review shows. Hospitals in another eight states have agreed to general guidelines that advise eliminating bills on a case-by-case basis for errors proven to be both serious and preventable.
The remaining states have not adopted even those voluntary standards, a concept that still stuns Patty Canakaris, 63, of St. Augustine, Fla. Her 67-year-old brother, Blake Oliver, died in December after a Florida hospital mistakenly gave him type A positive blood instead of type O positive blood during a transfusion for a simple operation.
“With something this horrific, whether they’ve operated on the wrong person or removed the wrong finger, they shouldn’t expect reimbursement,” she said.
More states shred bills for awful medical errors - Health care - MSNBC.com