NPR Article on the Observation Stays Issue

On April 20, 2018, NPR published an article written by Alison Kodjak entitled, “How Medicare's Conflicting Hospitalization Rules Cost Me Thousands Of Dollars”, on the observation stays matter.  The article focuses in on the author’s mother that was impacted by the issue, and how the use of observation status has increased significantly over the past decade.  

AHCA/NCAL continues to focus on the observation stays issue.  Increasingly, patients have no idea what their status is in a hospital, or the importance of it, which can lead to thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket medical expenses should they need skilled nursing center care following their hospital stay.  In addition to placing a financial burden on seniors and their families, this anomaly in Medicare rules can cause unnecessary spend-down, accelerating the time frame in which seniors will have to turn to programs such as Medicaid to pay for their care.  For more information about the observation stays issue, please visit the AHCA/NCAL website.