Statement for the Record House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Hearing “Protecting Patients from Surprise Medical Bills”
- Statements and Testimony
The undersigned organizations of the Observation Stays Coalition have come together to address a surprise medical billing issue that affects Medicare patients in hospitals who are called observation status patients or outpatients, although the medically necessary care they need and receive is no different from the medically necessary care provided to formally admitted inpatients. The classification as observation or outpatient is significant, however, because the Medicare statute covers a post-hospital stay in a skilled nursing facility only if the patient was hospitalized for three consecutive days as an inpatient…
Recent Resources
Any changes to the Medicare program must aim for healthier people, better care, and smarter spending—not paying more for less. As policymakers debate the future of health care, we will provide our insights here.
Thinking ahead to Medicare's future, it’s important to modernize benefits and pursue changes that improve how people with Medicare navigate their coverage on a daily basis. Here are our evolving 30 policy goals for Medicare’s future.
You can help protect and strengthen Medicare by taking action on the important issues we are following, subscribe to newsletter alerts, or follow along on social media. Any way you choose to get involved is a contribution that we appreciate greatly.