On May 12, CMS issued a proposed rule that replaces the occupational mix section of the proposed FY07 hospital inpatient prospective payment system rule of April 12. To comply with a Court of Appeals order, the proposed rule applies the occupational mix adjustment to 100% of the wage index for FY07 using new data collected on the 2006 Medicare Wage Index Occupational Mix Survey. The proposed rule also modifies hospitals’ procedures for withdrawing requests to reclassify for the FY 2007 wage index and for supplementing the FY 2009 reclassification application with official data used to develop the FY 2007 wage index. The 30-day public comment period expires on June 12, 2006. Click here to download the proposed rule.
