The program, which would apply to inpatient hospital care, would increase or decrease Medicare payments based upon if a hospital met quality measures for outcomes of care. Decreased payments to some hospitals would pay for increased payments to others.
The measures are to be chosen by the secretary of Health and Human Services, who is encouraged to strongly consider choosing those measures based upon recommendations by the Hospital Quality Alliance.
The bill, described as the “Medicare Hospital Quality Improvement Act of 2008,” was introduced by Sen. Max Baucus and Sen. Charles Grassley.
The total payment adjustment would double from 1 percent to 2 percent between 2012 and 2016 by annual .25 percent increases.
Read the draft of the Medicare Hospital Quality Improvement Act of 2008 (pdf).
