Ohio hospitals will avoid nearly $33 million in cuts to federal Medicare reimbursements next year under new regulations issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The cuts were initially proposed but not enacted when CMS issued a final rule updating Medicare payment policies and rates for inpatient stays in acute-care hospitals under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and hospital paid under the Long-Term Care Hospitals (LTCHs) Prospective Payment System (PPS), in fiscal year (FY) 2013.
Thanks in part to hospitals’ advocacy efforts and support from federal lawmakers like Ohio’s U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, Congressman Tim Ryan and Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, the final rule significantly improves upon the proposed rule affecting 3,400 acute-care hospitals and approximately 440 LTCHs.
CMS’ decision to withdraw its proposed 0.8 percent cut to the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) secures nearly $850 million more in Medicare payments for U.S. hospitals and nearly $32.6 million for Ohio hospitals than under the proposed rule. Ohio hospitals should be on the lookout for the estimated impact of the final rule on their facilities from the American Hospital Association. (Charles Cataline, Jonathan Archey)
http://www.ohanet.org/news-article/final-cms-rule-increases-payments-to-hospitals/9189/
