Observation status

The federal Medicare agency (the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMS) is asking for public comments on observation status.  We believe that it is important for CMS to hear families’ experiences. 

I wrote our program’s Weekly Alert on the Medicare agency’s request for comments, http://www.medicareadvocacy.org/2012/08/09/3805/.  The Alert describes what CMS proposes and our comments on the proposals and then provides information (at the very end of the Alert) about how to submit your comments (by e-mail, regular mail, etc.).

You might want to tell CMS: your state (or the state where your family member’s experience occurred, if different), the reasons why the family member was hospitalized, a brief summary of the diagnostic tests and services provided in the hospital, how long the patient was hospitalized, and the circumstances of the discharge to a skilled nursing facility (how long the patient was in the skilled nursing facility and at what out-of-pocket cost).  You can respond to CMS’s specific proposals, of course, if you want to.

Please feel free to call me with any questions or concerns.