CT hospitals left out of Medicare bonuses

No CT hospitals are among hospitals nationally receiving Medicare bonuses under the new national health reform act. The bonuses were designed to equalize payments between high and low cost hospitals – none of CT’s 30 hospitals qualified as lower cost. The provision was prompted by research led by Dartmouth Atlas showing no link between high cost areas of the US and hospitals with quality.In fact Dartmouth researchers have evidence that higher cost areas are associated with lower care. That research is very controversial and other researchers disagree with Dartmouth’s findings.
Ellen Andrews