Senate Bill Would Count Observation Days toward Medicare Skilled Nursing Coverage Trigger

​On the heels of a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that would mandate notification of patients held in hospitals on observation status (see the March 27, 2015, Issues in Continuing Care Risk Management), a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate would allow days spent on observation status to count toward the three-day stay to trigger Medicare skilled nursing coverage. The Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2015, Senate Bill 843, is a new version of a similar bill introduced during the last Senate session that failed to pass.