Medicare unfairly penalizes hospitals treating sickest, poorest patients, study finds

"For the last four years, Medicare has wielded a big stick: It has fined hospitals if too many of their patients returned to any hospital within weeks of being released.

But many safety-net hospitals, including academic teaching hospitals, say this is unfair because they take care of sicker, poorer patients.

Now data released Monday shows they may be right.

Researchers at Harvard Medical School found that hospitals are being penalized to a large extent based on the patients they serve. The researchers found that nearly two dozen variables, such as patients’ education, income and ability to bathe, dress and feed themselves, explain nearly half of the difference in readmission rates between the best- and worst-performing hospitals."

Read more at The Washington Post