Because of my previous work to educate senior Americans enrolled in Medicare that they can lose their best Medicare benefits because the have been put into the observation status category by their hospital, I have taken the next step. I have placed a petition on the White House website for public petitions. Here is the title of the petition, what it says and the link to it. When a petition gets 100,000 supporters the White House is compelled to take a public position on it.
Send Congress a Bill to eliminate the observation status for Medicare beneficiaries and then work to pass it.
Observation status is being used for Medicare patients in hospitals, making them outpatients rather than inpatients. There are dire financial consequences, including: facing higher hospital bills because of being covered by Part B rather than Part A, and losing Medicare coverage for skilled nursing care because of not having three hospital days as an inpatient. There has been a drastic increase of observation status patients in recent years. Many elderly Americans have faced bills in the tens of thousands of dollars. A great many find themselves in hospitals but not knowing that they are in the observation status category. A great many are in this category for many more than the two days most appropriate for this reduced Medicare coverage. Time to eliminate observation status.
Please consider putting some effort into getting others to sign this petition, whether they are in Medicare now, will enter it in the future, or just have a loved one or friend that is in Medicare.
1
1
1
