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Medicare to stop paying for some infection treatments

Patient Access Weekly Advisor, The Charlotte Observer, November 14, 2007

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Medicare will stop paying for treatment of some infections that occur in hospitals and are caused by germs that are resistant to standard medicines. US hospitals are reacting by screening patients for drug-resistant germs and escalating the use of newer antibiotics, the Charlotte Observer reports.

One of the targeted germs is MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. MRSA doesn't respond to low-cost, standard drugs such as penicillin, oxacillin and amoxicillin. Treatment can require medications costing as much as $1,500 a week. Resistant infections in hospitals nationwide cost an estimated $20 billion annually.

Almost two-thirds of skin infections in emergency rooms are attributed to MRSA, up from 2 percent 35 years ago. According to government data released in July, approximately one in 20 patients hospitalized with MRSA dies.

According to the Charlotte Observer, about 160 Veterans Affairs Medical Centers will screen patients for the bacteria beginning this month. To avoid losing Medicare payments, other facilities are quickly following suit.

To read the full story, click here.

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