Obama Plan to Penalize Bad Nursing Homes

President Obama's deficit reduction plan, in addition to cutting $300 billion from projected Medicare and Medicaid spending, would penalize nursing homes with high hospital admission rates.  Now you might ask, "Why is that necessary?  Don't all nursing homes have high hospital admission rates?".   The answer is:  Some more than others.  A lot more.  Forbes recently reported that one provision in the plan is aimed directly at nursing homes with high admission rates.  The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that one quarter of nursing home hospital admissions may be preventable.  Likewise, a panel of Congress has estimated that 14 percent of patients discharged from hospitals to nursing homes are sent back at a later time for avoidable conditions.  The penalty for violations under the plan would be significant:  3 percent of the facilities Medicare payment.  Which, for some facilities, could be disastrous.  It's nice to finally see some politicians giving a nod to the elderly.