More on Observation Status

Last week Kaiser Health News (KHN) ran an update about Medicare’s Observation Status, reminding readers that the requirements of the NOTICE Act go into effect on August 6, 2016.  Medicare Releases Draft Proposal For Patient Observation Notice explains that CMS has asked for comments on the draft notice it created for hospitals to use to explain observation status to patients. One expert quoted in the KHN article “said the notice is written for a 12th-grade reading level, even though most consumer materials aim for no more than an eighth-grade level. It ‘assumes some health insurance knowledge that we are fairly certain most people don’t have.'” Others interviewed for the article expressed concerns about the draft of the notice and whether it goes far enough.  A sample of the draft notice can be viewed in the article. The comment period closed on June 17, 2016 and the article notes that the final CMS notice isn’t expected until shortly before the law becomes effective.