Massachusetts becomes the next state following New York that will not pay for medical errors, and Medicare had set the pace on this being first with their list. I can see where it will create a greater level of responsibility, but there has to be some gray areas that will 
need to be dealt with, and in the meantime, what will happen if a hospital has an error and they are one of the unfortunate facilities (around 50% or so in the US) that are currently bordering on insolvency? I agree facilities should be responsible and nobody wants to be the victim of a preventable error, but what happens when one incident with lawsuits and investigations has the power to potentially close or bankrupt a facility in the pursuit of doing the right thing, or is it the right thing? BD
Hospitals and doctors who operate on the wrong limb or give a dangerous dose of medication will no longer be able to bill the state of Massachusetts or its largest private health insurer for costs related to fixing the error, health authorities announced yesterday. more stories like this The policies outlined separately yesterday by state government and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts have the potential to influence the care of about 4 million people in the state and substantially increase the pressure on hospitals to improve the quality of care.
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