According to a recent Connecticut Health Investigative Team article, 24 of Connecticut’s 31 acute care hospitals will face Medicare penalties in federal fiscal year (FFY) 2014, in response to the program’s attempt to reduce the number of patients readmitted within one month of discharge.
None of the 24 hospitals will face the highest penalty allowed under federal law, 2% of their base Medicare reimbursements. However, three hospitals will lose more than 1%: (1) Hospital of St. Raphael in New Haven (now merged with Yale-New Haven Hospital) will lose 1.77%, (2) Masonic Home and Hospital in Wallingford will lose 1.14%, and (3) St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport will lose 1.06%.
The federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act allows the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to withhold part of a hospital’s Medicare payments if they have high 30-day readmission rates for patients hospitalized for pneumonia, heart attacks, and heart failure. Penalties are based on patient readmission data through June 2012. CMS will increase the maximum penalty from 2% to 3% in FFY 15.
The seven hospitals not facing any penalties include: (1) Day Kimball Hospital, (2) Hebrew Home and Hospital, (3) Manchester Memorial Hospital, (4) Middlesex Hospital, (5) New Milford Hospital, (6) Rockville General Hospital, and (7) Stamford Hospital.
Fourteen hospitals will face lower penalties than they did in FFY 13, including: (1) Yale-New Haven Hospital, (2) John Dempsey Hospital, (3) Saint Mary’s Hospital, (4) Johnson Memorial Hospital, (5) MidState Hospital, and (6) Danbury Hospital.
