Medicare and Medicaid should PAY Less per patient when 6 random items checked are deficient.
How about M&M (and private LTC) don’t pay for conditions that origninate inside the facility. A person enters with illness A and injury B. But while there breaks a leg and acquires Sepsis. Why should the provider be paid for treating the broken leg and the Sepsis?
Lots of ways to create positive tax incentives for private long term care facilities. The State inspects all of them - those that take medicare and those that don’t.
Same with multidrug-resistant pathogens in a hospital setting? If the Sepsis rate’s statistically higher than other facilities that fact could be included in the ‘incentive plan’. Put it on the list of random variables that will be checked... and adjust the pay rates or tax incentives accordingly. As far as the ‘insurance companies and Hospital payments, bills etc... that’s a mess no one should wade into.(I have opinions on that but it’s too complicated to write up - now or ever)