Fox News claims Obamacare punishes hospitals if their patients with heart failure live instead of die
Fox News reports:
A provision of ObamaCare is set to punish roughly two-thirds of U.S. hospitals evaluated by Medicare starting this fall over high readmission rates
Starting in October, Medicare will reduce reimbursements to hospitals with high 30-day readmission rates
“Among patients with heart failure, hospitals that have higher readmission rates actually have lower mortality rates,” said Sunil Kripalani, MD, a professor with Vanderbilt University Medical Center who studies hospital readmissions. “So, which would we rather have — a hospital readmission or a death?”
If this is really true, then it’s quite scary.
I googled the doctor’s quote to try to find a better source, because a lot of people don’t trust Fox News. None of the mainstream media seems to have covered it so far. Maybe that’s because it’s not really true and Fox is lying – or maybe it’s because it is true and the other sources haven’t reported it due to their alleged “bias.” I don’t know. I wish that the Washington Post would investigate this claim by Fox News to find out whether it’s true or false.
If this is true, it’s terrifying.
If it’s false, then shame on Fox news for scaring people like that.
Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog 
Dantes replied:
Look, this is the tip of the iceberg. Hospitals are taking over medical care, running doctors out of town, unless they sign a contract to work for the hospital. At that point, the doctor works for the hospital.
This is to save money, right? So what happens if the hospital doesn’t save money? When your doctor works for the hospital they don’t work for you.
Hospitals are already forcing doctors to adhere to protocols and guidelines…which are not always in your best interest. And if your doctor works for a hospital…well, they have to feed their family. Where does that leave you?
This is the untold story of Obamacare and why it must be repealed.
August 24, 2012 at 12:33 am. Permalink.