Political Quotes

“I applaud the Senate passage of H.R. 876, the Notice of Observation Treatment and Implication for Care Eligibility, NOTICE, Act. Representative Lloyd Doggett of Texas introduced H.R. 876. Senator Enzi and I introduced an identical companion bill in the Senate, S. 1349, which the Finance Committee reported unanimously by voice vote on June 24, 2015. This important legislation requires hospitals to give notice to Medicare beneficiaries who are classified as ``outpatient observation'' status for more than 24 hours rather than being admitted to the hospital as inpatients. Being classified as ``outpatient observation'' status may result in higher out-of-pocket costs for Medicare beneficiaries and makes those beneficiaries ineligible for Medicare coverage of post- acute care in a skilled nursing facility after they are discharged from the hospital. The use of ``outpatient observation'' status has become more prevalent in recent years, and the duration of these ``outpatient observation'' stays has grown longer--meaning that an increasing number of Medicare beneficiaries are spending more and more time in the hospital without being admitted as inpatients. According to the Department of Health & Human Services's, HHS, inspector general, in 2012, Medicare beneficiaries had more than 600,000 ``outpatient observation'' stays that lasted 3 nights or more. These ``outpatient observation'' stays can have serious financial consequences for seniors.…”