For years, patients and advocates have been warning of the increasing use of the patient classification status known as “observation stays.”  A growing number of patients covered by Medicare, have spent days in the hospital, only to be surprised with large out-of-pocket costs and an inability to access long-term care because they were totally unaware the hospital never actually admitted them as a patient.

Beginning this summer, a new federal law will require hospitals to tell their Medicare patients if they have not been formally admitted and why. Kaiser Health News reports:

“The NOTICE Act requires that starting Aug. 6, Medicare patients receive a form written in ‘plain language’ after 24 hours of observation care but no later than 36 hours. Under the law, it must explain the reason they have not been admitted and how that decision will affect Medicare’s payment for services and patients’ share of the costs. The information must also be provided verbally, and a doctor or hospital staff member must be available to answer questions.”

A Wall Street Journal investigation showed observation stays at hospitals have increased 156% and explains why many hospitals have lowered their readmissions and thus the fines that come from too many Medicare patients returning to the hospital.

“…at hospitals around the country, more patients are entering or re-entering hospitals under something called “observation status”—a category that keeps them out of the readmission tallies. Patients on observation status can remain in the hospital for days, and typically receive care that is indistinguishable from inpatient stays, experts say. But under Medicare billing rules, the stays are considered outpatient visits, and as such, don’t trigger penalties under the health law.

The Journal’s analysis of Medicare billing data shows that increases in observation stays can skew the readmission numbers, letting hospitals avoid penalties even if patients continue to have complications and return for repeat visits. Observation stays generally are cheaper for the government, but in some cases they can lead to big bills that are the patient’s responsibility.”

The American Hospital Association has asked that the new rules be delayed and one of the law’s co-sponsors also isn’t happy with the language used to explain observation stays to patients.

“It doesn’t require the hospital to explain exactly why the patient is getting observation care instead of being admitted, he {Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX)} said, and doesn’t clearly explain the difference between Medicare’s Part A hospitalization and nursing home benefit and Part B, which covers outpatient services, including doctor’s visits, lab tests and hospital observation care.

The notice, he said, also does not sufficiently explain why observation patients are ineligible for Medicare’s nursing home coverage, which under law requires at least three consecutive days as an admitted patient.”

Medicare has been taking public comment and we’ll likely hear more implementation details this month.