Lowe's home improvement company, like a growing number of large companies nationwide, offers its employees an eye-catching benefit: certain major surgeries at prestigious hospitals at no cost to the employee. How do these firms do it? With "bundled payments," a way of paying that's gaining steam across the health care industry, and that Medicare is now adopting for hip and knee replacements in 67 metropolitan areas, including New York, Miami and Denver. Here's how it works: Lowe's and other employers pay one flat rate for a particular procedure from any of a number of hospitals they've selected for quality, even if they are a plane ride away. And, under the agreement, the hospital...
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