Medicare pilot program meant to revise policy that leaves seniors with costly bill
By August 9, 2012 | KAISER HEALTH NEWS produced in collaboration with 
Concerned that a growing number of seniors have been unexpectedly forced to pay thousands of dollars for nursing home care after a stay in a hospital, Medicare has launched a pilot project to test whether it can relax hospital-payment rules to help the 
growing number of seniors who are shelling out thousands of dollars for follow-up nursing-home care.
The issue involves what should be an easy question: Is the Medicare beneficiary an inpatient or an observation patient? The answer can mean the difference between Medicare-covered follow-up nursing-home care or a senior facing an unexpected whopper of a bill. [Continued in The Washington Post and in KHN]
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