Dive Brief:
- A bipartisan group of legislators have introduced a bill to address the formula HHS uses to penalize hospitals with high admission rates.
- Bill sponsor Rep. Jim Renacci (R-Ohio) says the current readmissions penalty formula is unfair to hospitals serving low-income patients who might lack the resources to prevent rapid relapses.
- Renacci, who ran nursing homes prior to serving in Congress, said the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program should account for ties between socioeconomic status and hospital readmissions.
Dive Insight:
I believe Rep. Renacci may be onto something here. Hospitals that serve low income patients with fewer resources for self-care are likely to be readmitted more often even if the hospitals do an exemplary job. Adjusting the readmissions penalty formula to account for this reality is probably a good idea, as there's no point further penalizing hospitals who deliver a great deal of uncompensated care.