U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, announced that he will seek a six-month extension of Section 508 of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003, which is set to expire in March 2007. The provision affects 120 hospitals that are entitled to obtain geographic reclassifications for purposes of using a more appropriate wage index and receiving more accurate Medicare payments. “Medicare hospital payments need to adequately account for differences in wages so that hospitals are able to obtain staffing in a competitive workforce environment,” Grassley said. Grassley is also seeking a long-term solution to problems with the area wage index in addition to the six-month extension. Read the release.
