Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

The list of qualifying facilities to be released soon on CMS' Web site.

Good news for hospitals.
 
Retroactive to patient discharges on or after April 1, more than 120 hospitals will see an increase in Medicare payments, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Those slated for an increase were chosen by CMS from nearly 550 hospitals that took advantage of a one-time appeal process set up under the reform bill for facilities to get reclassified into adjoining geographic areas with higher payment rates.

Congress earmarked $900 million in assistance over the next three years, in part to help short-staffed hospitals attract greater numbers of quality health care workers.

"We are pleased to be able to meet the tight timetable established in the MMA to get financial relief to these hospitals as rapidly as possible," CMS Administrator Mark McClellan said in an April 19 press release.

Hospitals that have been reclassified will be posted on www.cms.hhs.gov.

Lesson Learned: Hospitals just outside of Medicare's reclassification criteria will soon receive word from CMS on their appeal status.