Hospital gives Medicare patients cash back for surgery

Oct 26 2009

In a story done by Kaiser Health News in collaboration with USA Today, KHN staff writer Phil Galewitz reports on a hospital in Tulsa, Okla. "An hour into knee replacement surgery — with U2's I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For playing in the background — Dr. Yogesh Mittal smiles as he raises the left leg of his patient, 76-year-old Frank Morrow.

While holding Morrow's thigh, the surgeon lets the bottom half of the leg fall. 'Look at that,' he says, pointing to the wide range of motion permitted by the metallic-colored implant. 'He's going to love this new knee.' Medicare, the government program that is paying for Morrow's surgery, likes it, too (10/26). Read the entire story. Watch the related video.