PANTS ON FIRE Chain email says Medicare won't pay for 'observational' stay in hospital due to Obamac

There is a meanness in America that is growing!



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Chain email says Medicare won't pay for 'observational' stay in hospital due to Obamacare http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/jun/25/chain-email/chain-email-says-medicare-wont-pay-observational-s/ … via @PolitiFact

5:56 PM - 25 Jun 2015 · Details


"Under the Affordable Care Act, anyone on Medicare who is admitted to a hospital for observation will be responsible for the bill. Medicare won't pay a cent."

— Chain email on Wednesday, June 24th, 2015 in a chain email



A reader recently sent us a chain email we hadn’t seen before. The lengthy missive, purportedly written by a "senior gentleman in Mesa, Arizona," details a visit to a hospital made contentious by Medicare payment rules. The anonymous author claims to have experienced "a medical situation that made it very clear that the ‘Affordable Care Act’ is neither affordable, nor do they care."

The full email, which is lengthy, is accessible in its entirety here. But briefly,.................



...Our ruling

The chain email said that "under the Affordable Care Act, anyone on Medicare who is admitted to a hospital for observation will be responsible for the bill. Medicare won't pay a cent."

That’s wrong. Medicare will cover the hospital stay, minus standard copayments and the like. Patients kept in the hospital under observation will not be able to receive Medicare reimbursements for follow-up care such as nursing-home stays, however.

Even more inaccurate is the charge that this policy stemmed from the Affordable Care Act. In reality, this stems from a separate policy decision and had nothing to do with Obama’s law. The claim is not only ridiculous but also dangerous, by urging ailing patients