Medicare area wage index system

Analysts Look at Medicare Wage System

The Congressional Research Service has published a new report on the Medicare hospital wage index system. The agency undertook its analysis because Some Members of Congress, hospitals, and independent analysts have expressed interest in the differences in Medicare hospital payments by geographic area, based on the wage index. Some of these stakeholders have recommended changes to the wage index to more accurately reflect labor market forces faced by hospitals. Although some modifications to the wage index have been implemented, there is no consensus about systematic reforms. In the report the CRS describes how the geographic wage system works and what [...]

MedPAC Weighs in on Proposed Medicare Payment Changes

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission has submitted formal comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in response to the latter’s publication of a proposed regulation that would govern how Medicare will pay for acute-care hospital inpatient services and long-term hospital care in the coming 2020 fiscal year. The 14-page MedPAC report addresses four aspects of the proposed Medicare payment regulation: inpatient- and outpatient drug- and device related payment proposals proposed changes in the hospital area wage index the reporting of hospitals’ uncompensated care on the Medicare cost report’s S-10 worksheet the long-term hospital prospective payment system MedPAC is [...]