Fewer Hospital Re-admissions = More Deaths

According to a study by Dr Ankur Gupta at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Medicare penalties for hospitals that readmit patients with heart failure have had their intended effect of reducing the frequency of readmission after discharge. Thirty-day readmission rates dropped from 20% before the penalties went into effect to 18.4% afterward. A whopping 1.6 point decline.

Unfortunately for the patients, this came at the cost of a 1.4 point increase in the 30-day mortality rate for heart failure patients - from 7.2% to 8.6%. Worse, the one year mortality rate rose from 31.3% to 35.3% - up 4 points - from before the program to after.

Medicare officials say that they are "monitoring" the readmission penalty program. Government healthcare at work.