Thursday, November 18, 2010

A bright spot for civil rights

A quickie - we talk a lot about payment policy and delivery system reform, and the intense need to change the way things work at a systematic level. Which makes a lot of sense, given the number of problems the current configuration creates. At the same time, it's good to remember that sometimes, changes in regulations that have no additional cost - procedural, how we do things changes - can make a big difference:

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today issued new rules for Medicare- and Medicaid-participating hospitals that protect patients’ right to choose their own visitors during a hospital stay, including a visitor who is a same-sex domestic partner.

That's something I'm glad to hear.

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