Hospitals Lose Reimbursement for 'Unnecessary' ER Visits

Designed to curb the "overuse and abuse" of costly emergency care, Washington's hospitals will no longer receive Medicaid reimbursement for any "unnecessary" emergency room visits starting April 1, reported The Seattle Times.

In what could be the nation's most restrictive Medicaid ER policy, the program would stop payment for roughly 500 conditions, ranging from the obviously nonemergent diaper rash to the more complicated hypoglycemic coma and chest pain, the article noted.

Emergency physicians and hospitals would be left to foot the bill for treating those conditions.

Read the full story at: http://tinyurl.com/8xj3qc8

Source: FierceHealthcare