The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that Medicare outpatient hospital care reimbursements will increase by 3.8 percent in 2008. (Kaiser Network)
According to CMS, this higher reimbursement rate was established because of the increased volume and complexity of outpatient hospital care services. Hospitals are required to report quality of care data, or they could see reimbursements reduced by 2 percent in 2009.
In related news, CMS announced that it will reduce Medicare physician reimbursements by 10.1 percent on Jan. 1, 2008.