Medicare Releases 2014 Readmissions Penalties; Studies Examine Reduction Efforts

​An October 2, 2014, Kaiser Health News analysis of Medicare readmissions penalties indicates that fines were issued for three-quarters of hospitals eligible to be penalized for high rates of 30-day readmissions. The 2,610 affected hospitals include 39 that will lose a full 3% of their Medicare reimbursement and an additional 496 that will lose 1% or more. The average reduction is 0.63%, an increase from the 0.38% average in 2013. The majority of hospitals in 29 states will receive at least some penalty, which Kaiser notes could be due in part to the addition of two new conditions that can trigger the reimbursement reduction.