Medicare's refusal to pay could end Sutter, California, heart transplants

"In a move that could kill the region's only heart transplant program, federal Medicare officials have notified Sutter Memorial Hospital (Sacramento, CA) that it will not pay for heart transplants there after January 15. Sutter does too few transplants and hasn't made progress toward boosting its numbers despite years of extra monitoring and corrective plans, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services told the hospital. Sutter has asked a federal judge to force Medicare to keep paying while it appeals the decision, but no court date has been set" - Sacramento Bee