The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Jan. 22 issued a proposed payment rule designed to ensure that long-term care hospitals (LTCHs) continue to receive appropriate payment for services provided while giving them incentives to provide more efficient care. The new policies and payment rates would apply to services provided to individuals who are discharged from these hospitals on or after July 1, 2008. The proposed rule would affect the nation’s nearly 400 LTCHs, generally defined as inpatient hospitals where the average length of stay for Medicare patients is greater than 25 days.
CMS is proposing a standard federal rate of $39,076.28 for the 2009 rate year. This is based on a proposed update of 2.6 percent compared with the standard federal rate for RY08, as revised to comply with provisions of the recently enacted Medicare Extension Act. The update represents a 3.5 percent increase in the hospital marketbasket less a 0.9 percent adjustment to offset coding changes in RY06 that do not reflect real changes in the severity of the cases treated by these hospitals. Comments on the proposed rule are due by March 24, 2008, and a final rule will be issued later in the spring. Download the proposed rule.
