Last night I was visiting a friend in the ER who was told he was being admitted. A short time later he (we) arrived at an Observation Unit . Having been a victim of this problem previously, the Nursing Supervisor was called. Denying any deception, she said he was being admitted: Admitted to an Observation unit . Claiming they are powerless to fight insurance company policies, hospitals are often happy to comply. Why ? Because in many cases they can charge the patient far more for uncovered outpatient procedures than they would receive from insurance. There are other incentives too because hospitals lose money if they have to readmit - but if the first visit was not an admission the rules dont apply. CALL YOUR LEGISLATORS AND RAISE HE(CK) - Dont wait until you have $1000s out of pocket for relatively minor medical problems. health.yahoo.net/articles/healthcare/observation-status-what-it-means-hospitals-and-patients
Posted on: Sat, 25 Jan 2014 10:39:53 +0000