Bridgeport Hospital will see the second-largest reduction in Medicare payments in the state due to what the federal government considers excessive patient readmissions.
In its 10th annual review, Medicare assessed Bridgeport a 2.15% reduction, surpassed only by Rockville General Hospital”™s 2.3%.
Created by the Affordable Care Act, the review program began in October 2012 to encourage hospitals to provide better care in order to cut down on readmissions. All told, Medicare is reducing its payments to 2,499 hospitals ”“ 47% of the nation”™s institutions ”“ with an average penalty of 0.64% for each Medicare patient stay from Oct. 1 through September 2022. The reductions are estimated to save the federal government about $521 million.
Bridgeport”™s performance has improved over the last two years. It received a reduction of 2.62% in Fiscal Year 2021 and of 2.66% in FY 20.
Elsewhere in Fairfield County, Norwalk is receiving a 0.74% reduction (compared with 0.92% the previous fiscal year); Greenwich 0.53% (vs. 0.79%); Saint Vincent”™s Medical Center in Bridgeport 0.41% (0.72%); Danbury 0.31% (0.39%); and Stamford Hospital 0.22% (0.07%).
Exempt from the program are 2,216 hospitals that specialize in children, psychiatric patients or veterans, as well as those classified as rehabilitation, long-term and critical-access facilities.
