Judge: Medicare Beneficiaries May Appeal Hospital Observation Status

CMS must set up an appeals process for certain Medicare beneficiaries who are placed under observation at hospitals rather than designated as inpatients, a federal judge ruled. The ruling applies to all Medicare beneficiaries who are initially admitted as inpatients by a physician but later have their status changed to observation during a hospital’s utilization review process. That change in status can have momentous consequences for some beneficiaries. Medicare Part A does not cover hospital care unless a beneficiary is...