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  • 2014-04-14 (xsd:date)
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  • Medicare at Age 76 (ro)
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  • This alarmist warning claims a provision of the Affordable Care Act [ACA] (commonly known as Obamacare) supposedly requires that a primary care physician must admit patients of age 76 and older to a hospital in order for those patients' hospital costs to be covered by Medicare. It originally turned up as a piece tacked onto to the widely-circulated (and largely erroneous) Judge Kithil criticism of pending health care legislation and now makes the Internet rounds as a separate, stand-alone piece. In short, there's nothing to it. Nothing in the text of the Affordable Care Act requires that a primary care physician admit patients 76 or older in order for their hospital care to be treated under Medicare. Medicare coverage for hospital care is governed not by the ACA, but by provisions of the Social Security Act that establish the criteria for Medicare Parts A and B, and by rules and guidelines provided by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. None of those provisions or rules set an upper age limit on Medicare coverage: Likewise, the Inpatient hospital care section of the Medicare.gov web site simply states that all people with Medicare are covered whenever a doctor makes an official order which says you need inpatient hospital care to treat your illness or injury — it makes no mention of requiring admission specifically by a primary care physician, nor of any upper age limit on Medicare coverage: Finally, a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Inpatient Admission Order and Certification document from September 2013 that covers the procedure for submitting an order for inpatient services under Medicare Part A states that payment for hospital inpatient services under Medicare Part A, section 1814(a) requires only physician certification of the medical necessity that such services be provided on an inpatient basis. It, too, makes no mention of requiring hospital admission specifically by a primary care physician, nor of any upper age limit on Medicare coverage. (en)
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