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Jul 1, 2015

When you or a loved one on Medicare spends the night in the hospital, beware--your status matters. Are you considered an "outpatient under observation?" , or officially admitted as an inpatient.  Medicare requires hospitals to decide within 24 to 48 hours whether to admit or discharge a patient under observation. But several studies have shown that hospitals often flout this rule. 

"Hospitals would rather take lower Part B reimbursements by keeping a person as an outpatient" than take the chance of having to pay back the Part A money later, Edelman says. Find out how this costed a  patient over $5,000 out of pocket, even though he had become paralyzed while under "outpatient" status. Steve and Sinclair review a Kiplingers report. In the Q & A, CPA® Murray Titterington with IQ Wealth discusses the key flaws in with many of the top financial planning software platforms.