Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement
REGISTER WATCH
Skilled nursing facilities will see a 2.9 percent increase in their Medicare payments next year under a new proposal from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. CMS also says it plans to stick with current resource utilization groups for at least another year, while it continues the long process of working out case-mix refinements. Case mix refinements will allow Medicare to pay more for patients that require complicated care, but CMS says its research on the subject isn't yet advanced enough for implementation in fiscal year 2004. The decision to stick with existing RUGs means that nursing homes will continue to receive about $1 billion a year in temporary add-on payments. According to CMS, the rate increase will up SNF payments by about $400 million. The payment proposal was published in the May 16 Federal Register.
In other Register notices, CMS announced a slew of actions regarding information collection efforts, including:
Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement
- Budget:
HELP FOR STATES, RURAL AREAS IN SENATE BILL
The tax bill passed by the Senate May 15 includes $20 billion in fiscal relief [...] - Hospitals:
INPATIENT RULE LOWERS HIGH-TECH THRESHOLD
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services says hospitals would get a 3.5-percent pay raise [...] - Medicare:
GAO: DEATH TO LOCAL COVERAGE PROCESS
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services should strip Medicare contractors of their authority to [...] - Rehab:
75-PERCENT RULE ENFORCEMENT LOOMS FOR IRFs
Rehab hospitals are in line for a 3.3-percent increase in their Medicare payments - but [...] - Medicaid:
MEDICAID REVISIONS STILL UP IN AIR ON HILL, AMONG GOVERNORS
The National Governors Association task force on Medicaid is a long way from consensus on [...] - Pharmaceuticals:
PRIVATE LABELING LEADS TO CRIMINAL FINES
The feds mean business when it comes to drug pricing improprieties. Case in point: A [...] - Hospitals:
19 DRGs ON PER-DIEM CHOPPING BLOCK
Hospitals have long grumbled over the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' post-acute transfer policy. [...] - Managed Care:
2004 M+C RATES LOW-BALL PLANS
Health plans aren't happy with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' 2004 Medicare+Choice payment [...] - Overpayments:
CONTRACTORS TOUT PAYMENT SAFEGUARD HAULS
Medicare contractors are boasting once again about the financial fallout from their medical review, fraud-fighting [...] - Kickbacks:
DEDUCTIBLE DEALS LEGAL BETWEEN HOSPITALS, MEDIGAP PLANS
Medigap insurers may be able to work deals with hospitals for cut rates on inpatient [...] - Help With HIPAA:
4 STEPS FOR HANDLING PRIVACY COMPLAINTS WITHOUT GETTING BURNED
Even if you have a top-notch privacy compliance program in place, you're bound to be [...] - HIPAA:
PART A PROVIDERS OPTIMISTIC ON HIPAA TRANSACTION STANDARDS
Medicare Part A providers are generally confident that they'll be ready for the Oct. 16 [...] - PROGRAM MEMO ROUNDUP
Skilled nursing facilities puzzled over Medicare policy for bill types 22x and 23x can take [...] - REGISTER WATCH
Skilled nursing facilities will see a 2.9 percent increase in their Medicare payments next year [...] - BILL WATCH
The following House bill was introduced: H.R. 2070. A bill to amend title XVIII of [...]
