News in a Flash: Final Rule Sets Drug Prices, Conversion Factor

For 2008, your hospital will receive compensation for separately payable drugs at the average sales price plus 5 percent. This represents a 1 percent reduction from the current reimbursement amount and creates a site-of-service differential between hospitals and the physician setting (in the physician setting, CMS will continue to reimburse drugs at average sales price plus 6 percent).
The good news, however, is that CMS did not move forward with a plan to require hospitals to report pharmacy handling and overhead costs separately.
And the Final Rule sets the conversion factor for 2008 at 63.694, an increase of 3.3 percent over 2007.

- Published on 2007-12-20