© 2008 The Medical-Legal News
Los Angeles recently passed a city ordinance making it a misdemeanor crime to “dump” discharged patients at locales other than their homes, according to Modern Healthcare (2008-06-16).
Because CMS must stop reimbursements for five years to any hospital convicted of a misdemeanor crime, a single incident of dumping could devastate a hospital’s income, particularly those with a lot of indigent patients. Critics say the CMS does not have to stop payments just for violations of local ordinances.
The other tricky wrinkle in complying with the ordinance: Where does a hospital drop off a homeless patient?
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