If enacted, the bill would amend the program to exclude admissions related to transplants, end-stage renal disease, burns, trauma, psychosis or substance abuse. It would direct the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission to study the appropriateness of using a threshold of 30 days for readmissions under the program. It would also require the HHS to provide for a risk adjustment that will take into account a hospital’s proportion of inpatients who are full-benefit dual eligible individuals to ensure that hospitals which treat the most vulnerable populations are not unfairly penalized.
Burke T. Kealey, MD, president of the Society of Hospital Medicine, sent a letter to U.S. Rep. James Renacci — who sponsored the bill — saying that the bill addresses some serious concerns about the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program.
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