Wellpoint Will No Longer Pay For "Preventable" Medical Errors

Wellpoint is changing its policies to no longer reimburse hospitals and doctors for 11 medical errors it says are preventable according to the Star's Daniel Lee. The purpose in the change in policy is to link reimbursement rates with quality of care Lee says. The story provides a list of the 11 medical errors, which will no longer be covered, including hospital-born infections. Who doesn't know someone who entered the hospital with a minor illness and wound up much sicker because of an infection acquired during their stay in the hospital? Somehow I have to believe the medical providers will still find a way of passing these costs on to us. Here's the list of medical errors for which Wellpoint will no longer provide reimbursement:

• Surgery performed on the wrong body part.
• Surgery performed on the wrong patient.
• Wrong surgery performed on a patient.
• Object left in the body during surgery.
• Air embolism or blockage.
• Blood incompatibility.
• Catheter-associated urinary tract infection.
• Decubitus (pressure) ulcers.
• Vascular catheter-associated infection.
• Mediastinitis (an infection inside the chest) after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery.
• Hospital-acquired injuries, such as fractures, dislocations, intracranial injuries, crushing injuries and burns.