The Biden administration is proposing a 2.8% bump to inpatient payments to eligible hospitals in the next fiscal year, a $3.3 billion boost for facilities.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the proposed Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems (IPPS) rule and the Long-Term Care Hospital pay rule. In addition to changes to payment rates, the agency is proposing to measure hospitals on how they tackle health equity, Fierce Healthcare reports.
“CMS is helping to build a resilient healthcare system that promotes good outcomes, patient safety, equity and accessibility for everyone,” said CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure in a statement.
Hospitals that participate in the IPPS Quality Reporting Program and meaningfully use electronic records are projected to get a 2.8% increase to payments for fiscal year 2024, which begins in October. The pay raise is based on a 3% projected hospital market basket update of 3%, which is “reduced by a projected 0.2 percentage point productivity adjustment,” according to the rule.
Overall, this will lead to a $3.3 billion increase in inpatient payments. Long-term care hospitals are expected to get reduced payments by 2.5%, or $59 million. Read more.
