Congressional subcommittee revisits Medicare payment policy on short hospital stays, the two-midnight rule, and observation care

On May 20, 2014, the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee on Health, held a hearing on “Current Hospital Issues in the Medicare Program.”

Topics discussed included short hospital stays, the two-midnight rule and observation care.  Witnesses were:

• Sean Cavanaugh, Deputy Administrator and Director, Center of Medicare, CMS;
•  Jodi Nudelman, Regional Inspector General for Evaluation and Inspections, NY Region, Office of the Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services;
• Amy Deutschendorf, Senior Director of Clinical Resource Management, Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System;
• Ellen Evans, MD, Corporate Medical Director, HealthDataInsights;
•  Ann Sheehy, MD, Member Public Policy Committee, Society of Hospital Medicine; and
• Toby S. Edelman, Senior Policy Attorney, Center for Medicare Advocacy, Inc.

Read Chairman Brady’s hearing advisory and witness written testimony.