In the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, 24 of Connecticut’s 32 hospitals will be fined a percentage of their Medicare funding because of patient readmission rates, according to a recent analysis of federal data by Kaiser Health News.
The fines, which take effect for the federal fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, are mandated by the federal Affordable Care Act and can be as high as 2 percent of an institution’s overall Medicare funding. That’s up from a maximum of 1 percent last year.
In Connecticut, the highest readmission penalties will be levied against Hospital of Saint Raphael in New Haven (1.77 percent), Masonic Home and Hospital in Wallingford (1.14 percent) and St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport (1.06 percent).
The largest increases in penalties from last year will be levied against Saint Raphael, Milford Hospital and St. Vincent’s.
Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford Springs, John Dempsey Hospital in Farmington and Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven will see the biggest decreases in penalties.
Of the 32 institutions, 14 will see their penalties decrease, 13 will see them increase and five will see no change.
Across the country, the penalties total $227 million for 2,225 hospitals, Kaiser reported.
Click here to view Kaiser’s hospital-by-hospital break down of the fines.
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