Medicare inpatient rates

MedPAC Recommends Medicare Rate Updates to Congress

Some health care providers deserve larger Medicare payments in 2025, some should receive payment cuts, and others should see their payments go unchanged according to new recommendations from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission to Congress. In its annual report to Congress, MedPAC recommended the following changes in Medicare rates for 2025: Medicare inpatient rates – the rate increase currently scheduled by law for 2025 plus 1.5 percent. Medicare outpatient rates – the rate increase currently scheduled by law for 2025 plus 1.5 percent. Medicare physician rates – the rate increase for physician and other health professional services currently scheduled by [...]

joe2024-03-19T21:02:54-04:00March 20, 2024|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Congress, hospitals, Medicare, Medicare disproportionate share, Medicare DSH, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC|

MedPAC Meets, Finalizes 2025 Payment Recommendations

2025 Medicare payments led the agenda at last week’s meeting of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. After hearing presentations on the various Medicare payment systems and discussing the adequacy of current Medicare reimbursement, MedPAC’s commissioners voted to recommend the following changes in 2025 Medicare payments. Inpatient and outpatient services – an update provided for in current law plus 1.5 percent and a shift to a safety-net index policy that would pay safety-net hospitals another $4 billion. Physicians and other health professionals – an increase of 50 percent of the Medicare economic index and introduction of an add-on payment for services [...]

joe2024-01-16T14:22:30-05:00January 16, 2024|hospitals, Medicare, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC, post-acute care|

MedPAC Considers 2023 Medicare Rates at December Meeting

The government agency that advises Congress on Medicare payment matters met publicly in Washington, D.C. last week. During the virtual meeting, members of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission discussed and debated: Assessing payment adequacy and updating payments: hospital inpatient and outpatient services and supporting Medicare safety-net hospitals – commissioners discussed a proposal to increase FY 2024 rates one percentage point more than current law prescribes. Commissioners also discussed additional steps they might take to provide better support to safety-net hospitals, which they described as “…hospitals with high shares of low-income Medicare patients.” Status report: ambulatory surgical center services. Assessing payment [...]

iqtsupport2022-12-14T06:00:43-05:00December 14, 2022|Congress, hospitals, Medicare, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC|

CMS Finalizes FY 2021 Payments to Hospitals

Medicare has announced how it will pay hospitals for inpatient care in FY 2021 with publication of its annual inpatient prospective payment system regulation last week. Among the changes announced by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: A 2.9 percent increase in fee-for-service inpatient rates. A compromise on its proposal to require hospitals to report their payer-specific negotiated rates with Medicare Advantage plans. Changes in how Medicare will calculate Medicare disproportionate share (Medicare DSH) uncompensated care payments. A much smaller cut than originally proposed in the pool of funds for Medicare DSH uncompensated care payments. Minor adjustments in the [...]

iqtsupport2020-09-09T06:00:15-04:00September 9, 2020|hospitals, Medicaid regulations, Medicare disproportionate share, Medicare DSH, Medicare reimbursement policy|

MedPAC Offers 2021 Medicare Rate Recommendations

MedPAC has recommended to Congress changes in Medicare payment rates in the coming year. In its annual report to Congress, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission recommended the following rate changes: acute-care hospitals – a two percent rate increase and a suggestion that the difference between this two percent increase and the payment increase specified by law be used to increase the rewards hospitals may earn under Medicare’s hospital value incentive program. As a result, the value incentive program would offer a possible 0.8 percent in bonus payments, and with the recommended elimination of the 0.5 percent penalty for which hospitals [...]

iqtsupport2020-03-26T11:48:02-04:00March 26, 2020|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Medicare, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC|

CMS Posts Proposed FY 2020 Inpatient Regulation

Medicare would change its wage index system, raise inpatient fees, increase funding for Medicare disproportionate share hospital payments (Medicare DSH), enhance payments for new technologies, and make minor modifications in its hospital readmissions reduction, value-based purchasing, and hospital-acquired condition program if a proposed regulation published this week is ultimately adopted. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has published its proposed FY 2020 Medicare inpatient prospective payment system regulation: its plan for paying acute-care hospitals for Medicare-covered inpatient services in FY 2020. The 1800-page regulation calls for major changes in Medicare’s wage index system – changes CMS says would “…address [...]

iqtsupport2019-04-25T06:00:11-04:00April 25, 2019|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, hospitals, Medicare, Medicare disproportionate share, Medicare DSH, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy|

MedPAC Offers Recommendations on FY 2020 Rates, More

Last week the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission released its annual report to Congress. Included in this report are MedPAC’s Medicare rate recommendations for the coming year. They are: hospital inpatient rates – a two percent increase hospital outpatient rates – a two percent increase physician and other health professional services rates – no update skilled nursing facilities – no 2020 increase home health agencies – a five percent rate reduction inpatient rehabilitation facilities – a five percent rate reduction long-term-care hospital services – a two percent increase hospice services – a two percent rate reduction MedPAC also recommended that the [...]

iqtsupport2019-03-19T06:00:37-04:00March 19, 2019|Medicare, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC, Uncategorized|

MedPAC Issues 2018 Report to Congress

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission has issued its 2018 report and recommendations to Congress. The report includes MedPAC’s recommendations for next year’s Medicare fee-for-service payments; a review of the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D programs, with recommendations; and a report telehealth required by the 21st Century Cures Act. For Medicare fee-for-service rates, MedPAC proposes: the inpatient and outpatient rate increases, physician and other health professional rate increases, and outpatient dialysis increase included under current law no increase for ambulatory surgical centers, long-term-care hospitals, and hospice providers no rate increase for skilled nursing facilities a five percent reduction of payments [...]

iqtsupport2018-03-21T06:00:04-04:00March 21, 2018|Medicare, MedPAC|

MedPAC: Small Pay Raise for Hospital Inpatient, Outpatient Services

The independent agency that advises Congress on Medicare payment matters has recommended modest increases in Medicare payments for hospital inpatient and outpatient services in FY 2018. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission voted in support of a market basket increase of approximately 1.85 percent for Medicare outpatient and inpatient services in FY 2018. MedPAC also voted to recommend a 0.5 percent increase in payments to physicians but no increase for ambulatory surgery centers. MedPAC will formally submit its recommendations to Congress in March. Learn more about these and other MedPAC recommendations for changes in Medicare provider reimbursement in this article on [...]

iqtsupport2017-01-20T06:00:18-05:00January 20, 2017|Medicare, MedPAC|