Obamacare "Observations"

Team Obama brags that the readmission rate of patients to hospitals has been dropping. It has. And that was one of the goals of Obamacare. 

Are congratulations in order?

Not exactly. Medicare enacts a penalty on hospitals that do not meet readmission goals. To meet the new goals, hospitals readmit patients, but they don't label it "readmission", they label it "observation".

Elusive Search for Improvements

The Wall Street Journal explains how Medicare Rules Reshape Hospital Admissions.