Hospital "Observation Care" Can Be costly To Seniors

Hospitals provide "observation care" for patients who are not well enough to go home, but not sick enough to be admitted, however this "hospital observation care" can be poorly understood and costly for Medicare beneficiaries.  Seniors are stunned when they find out that being in a hospital for days, doesn't always mean they were actually admitted. Observation care requires a doctor's order and is considered an out patient service, which can leave some seniors, especially with Medicare Advantage plans, with considerable charges for routine drugs the hospital provides that they take home for chronic conditions, co-payments for doctor's fees and each hospital service. Medicare now has strict criteria for hospital admissions and usually won't pay anything for admitted patients, who should have been "observation patients."  The only way to know for sure is to ask. Medicare does not require hospitals to tell patients that they are in "observation status" and that they will be responsible for paying any non-covered Medicare services. The difference between in-patient care and observation care are virtually indistinguishable. This has generated appeals and pending litigation. **Confirm your patient status if/when you find yourself in the hospital to avoid extra charges and grief. I have an upcoming in patient procedure and I will respectfully request that if my status is to be changed, I want it to be from inpatient to "discharged" NOT to "observation care." To those of you who "peek" at my posts, sorry I've been away/busy. The website, further, was being renovated as you can see. I hope everyone is enjoying good health...Until next time...Glenn