In This Issue:

- Hospital-Acquired Infections Hit Hospitals’ Bottom Line

- Will a new treatment option for hepatitis C bring down health care costs?

- Implementation of the Affordable Care Act

- Other Federal Regulatory Initiatives

- Congressional Initiatives

- Other Health Care News

- Upcoming Congressional Hearings

- Excerpt from Hospital-Acquired Infections Hit Hospitals’ Bottom Line:

CMS announced that 721 hospitals will receive a 1 percent payment reduction as a result of poor performance in reducing hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). The cut will hit approximately one in seven of the nation’s hospitals including some of the nation’s most well-known facilities. The total cut is estimated to be about $373 million per year.

CMS announced the penalties shortly after the release of an HHS report studying hospital errors between 2010 and 2013. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) found a 17 percent decline, from 145 to 121 HACs per 1,000 discharges, from 2010 to 2013. However, policymakers are convinced that further reductions are possible, making the imperative for hospitals to prevent avoidable infections even more important, should additional efforts to deny payment/penalize providers for HAIs take effect.