Last week, the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a 0.71 percent increase in standard Medicare reimbursement rates for long-term care hospitals for 2008.
According to CMS, the rule would “assure appropriate payment for services by long-term acute care hospitals…to severely ill or medically complex patients, while providing incentives for more efficient care for Medicare beneficiaries.â€
Interested parties may comment on the proposed rule over the next 60 days, and CMS will publish the final rule in the spring. For more information, download the press release.
In related news, Congress is considering changing the method in which long term care hospitals accept certain patients and reducing Medicare reimbursements to long term care hospitals by $1 to $2 billion over five years. (Source)
