August 5, 2015 - by Leslie Small
Medicare's rule that says patients must stay in the hospital for three days before it will cover their care in a skilled nursing facility (SNF) may not be helping patients, a new study finds, and in fact may be costing Medicare plans money.
For the study, published in the August issue of Health Affairs, researchers set out to assess the effects of the requirement by comparing hospital and SNF utilization among Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollees whose plans either did or did not eliminate the requirement between 2006 and 2010. MA plans are unique in that they have the flexibility to either keep or waive the rule, the study notes.
