Some hospitals could lose millions under medicare reform provision

A provision in the House and Senate versions of the health reform bill could mean big bucks for some hospitals, like the world-renowned Mayo Clinic, but could cause significant losses to others, reports the Washington Post. 

The measures would reward hospitals that are able to spend their Medicare dollars efficiently, which could bring lots of extra money to hospitals like Mayo Clinic--which, the Post reports, lobbied hard for the measure.

But hospitals in big cities with higher poverty and minority rates could lose millions. Considering that in many cases Medicare dollars can account for "as much as half of a hospital's budget," it could have a major impact.

"The people in Minnesota are just going to say, 'We want our money,'" J. Thomas Rosenthal, the chief medical officer for the UCLA Medical System, told the Post. "It's just 'Give us your money. You people are wasteful and we're not, and we deserve it.'" 

For more on the provision:
- read this Washington Post article

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