88 California Hospitals Hit With Annual Medicare Payment Penalties

88 California hospitals were among the 751 nationally hit with annual Medicare payment penalties for having injury rates exceeding the target threshold in the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program mandated under the ACA.  61% (64 hospitals) were also penalized the previous year, compared to 57% nationally.

The reductions will retroactively apply to Medicare payments from the beginning of the federal fiscal year in October and through the end of September 2018. Medicare will cut by 1 percent its payments for each patient’s stay as well as the amount of money hospitals get to teach medical residents and to care for low-income people.

Source: Kaiser Health News