Medicare appeals process offers hope for some hospitals

For hospital officials who feel wronged by Medicare's payment system, a recent opportunity to appeal geographic status has stirred new hope for survival. Last September, the Health Care Financing Administration published interim final regulations detailing criteria hospitals have to meet to merit reclassification; hospitals had until Nov. 6, 1990, to file their appears. Now, officials are slogging through nearly 1,000 completed applications. "There has been pent-up demand for some review" of geographic classification, says one official.