Washington is the fourth state to announce that it will not pay for “never events,” joining Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Vermont. Gov. Chris Gregoire announced on Jan. 29 the adoption of the resolution by the Washington State Hospital Association, the Washington State Medical Association, and the Washington Ambulatory Surgery Center Association, which adopted the voluntary agreement to not ask patients to pay for care related to serious medical errors.
The agreement applies to 28 specific adverse events such as wrong-site surgery, death or serious disability from malfunction of a device or from a fall, or a serious ulcer of the skin. Read the news release.
