Health Reform: Which Hospitals Stand to Gain the Most?

The Washington Post's Alec MacGillis has a fascinating explainer on which hospitals stand to gain the most from health reform, at least as far as Medicare payments are concerned. In short, those like the Mayo Clinic that control Medicare costs while keeping health care quality high would get a larger share of Medicare dollars as a reward for their performance. But other health care providers serving more demographically diverse patients say they'd be treated unfairly under proposed new Medicare formulas, and patient care would suffer as a result.

MacGillis explains why the stakes are so high:

Just how much money is at stake depends on how the index is crafted. But even before the details are ironed out, many health policy experts say the provision may be one of the strongest cost-control tools in the legislation.

Hospitals now have little incentive to be parsimonious, because Medicare revenue is based on the number of procedures performed at a facility. But supporters say a value index - by rewarding hospitals that spend less per patient - would provide an incentive to limit procedures.

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