California’s Medicaid Program Would Stop Payments For Medical ‘Never Events’ Under New Bill

California’s Medicaid Program Would Stop Payments For Medical ‘Never Events’ Under New Bill in Politics and Legislation

There’s not much argument from anyone that some major medical errors should never occur.

That’s why lawmakers and health care officials on the federal and state levels are adopting policies where health care providers are not paid for these errors.

Medicare was one of the first to compile a list of medical errors called “never events,” and will refuse to pay for any of these mistakes.

Now the California Medicaid program, MediCal, is joining Medicare and a few health insurance companies to refuse to pay for never events.

The bill, drawn up by California state Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles), allows MediCal to refuse reimbursements for any error on Medicare’s never events list.

Assemblyman Feuer previously introduced a bill that had broader restrictions, but rewrote the measure after strong opposition from care provider associations.

Other states that restrict payments for medical errors include Massachusetts, Maine, New York, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Washington, reported the Los Angeles Times.

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