Category Archives: health care costs

What Was Medicare Thinking? Part 2: IRFs

Posted on April 19, 2013

At the same time Medicare came out with a prospective payment system (PPS) for LTACHs (see previous post) a similar new payment system was instituted for Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs). Under the old payment system, TEFRA reimbursed IRFs for the … Continue reading →

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What Was Medicare Thinking? Part 1: LTACH

Posted on November 7, 2012

Medicare periodically changes payment methods for healthcare providers, and the examples I’d like to present address two different post-acute services: Long Term Acute Hospitals (LTACHs, or LTACs) and Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs). Upon close examination of these reimbursement changes it … Continue reading →

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Doctors and Health Care Costs: A Second Opinion

Posted on October 11, 2012

This article was written in 2012. Let’s take a look at physicians. Less than 10% of our healthcare dollars go directly to payments to physicians. However, the total healthcare costs related to their decisions are far greater. A physician order … Continue reading →

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