Starting Oct. 1, 2008, Medicare will no longer pay hospitals for costs of treating certain conditions that could have been reasonably prevented. The already low profit margins at hospitals mean that the organizations can’t be expected to absorb these costs, so they are likely to pass them along to patients or payers. However, a January 2008 article in The Massachusetts Nurse Newsletter, published by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, raised an interesting question about the issue. Could insurers create new “products” to insure hospitals against losses in the event of hospital acquired infections (HACs)? An excerpt from the article follows:

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Hospital are preparing for Oct. 1, 2008 when Medicare will no longer pay for specific hospital acquired conditions (HACs). However, a recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) questions the fairness of Medicare not paying for all urinary tract infections (UTIs) that are acquired during a hospital stay. (“Nonpayment for Harms Resulting from Medical Care,” published in a December issue of JAMA (2007;298(23):2782-2784, Heidi L. Wald, MD, MSPH; Andrew M. Kramer, MD)

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