The California Legislature is considering two bills taking different paths toward reconciling a vexing question dealing with observation status of patients in hospitals.
Labeling sick and injured people as in-patients or outpatients has several ramifications for hospitals ranging from reimbursement to staffing levels.
Health officials at CMS and lawmakers in several state legislatures are wrestling with the issue.
In California, one bill (SB 1269) by Sen. Jim Beall (D-San Jose) seeks to establish a firm deadline of 24 hours for hospitals to either declare individuals in-patients or out-patients.
Another bill (SB 1238) by Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina) creates several scenarios that would allow hospitals to go beyond the 24-hour limit.
Beall’s bill is sponsored by the California Nurses Association. Hernandez’s bill is sponsored by Tenet Healthcare. Both bills were placed in the Senate suspense file this month, effectively ending their chances for this year. But debate continues.
We asked stakeholders to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the two approaches.
We received responses from:
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.Some elements may be removed from this article due to republishing restrictions. If you have questions about available photos or other content, please contact khnweb@kff.org.