AHA Fights Readmission Penalties For Hospitals

The American Hospital Association is fighting against an Affordable Care Act provision they say unfairly penalizes hospitals for readmission of patients. The group is pushing a bill that would require CMS to take socioeconomic status into account when calculating readmission penalties, though the agency has not previously supported the idea. Starting in late 2012, the ACA required CMS to penalize hospitals for readmissions beyond their expected baseline rate. Hospitals can be penalized for patients that return within 30 days for...