According to the Hill, nursing homes will see an 11 percent cut in reimbursements based on a “recapture” of extra payments. An excerpt:
The American Health Care Association, which represents nursing homes, said the cut endangers thousands of jobs as well as the quality of nursing-home care.
“This will threaten our ability to provide quality care to America’s seniors … At such a critical time, while we already face drastic cuts to Medicaid at the state level and a fragile economic recovery, this was unnecessary,” AHCA President Mark Parkinson said in a statement.
The 11 percent payment cut will amount to roughly $3.8 billion, CMS said.
Also on Friday, CMS announced modest payment increases for hospice and rehabilitation facilities.
Medicare will pay inpatient rehabilitation facilities roughly 2 percent more next year, at a cost of around $150 million. The regulation setting those rates also establishes a new quality-reporting program for rehabilitation facilities.
Hospices will see a 3 percent increase in Medicare payments, mostly to cover the rising cost of providing care.
Last month, CMS announced several Medicare payment changes. CMS issued a final rule announcing the reduction of Medicare skill nursing facility Prospective Payment System rates for FY12 by $3.87 billion. (Source)
Hospices will receive a 2.5 percent Medicare rate increase for the fiscal year. Freestanding and hospital-based inpatient rehab facilities will see a 2.2 percent rate increase. In a rate increase wrap-up, CMS contends rate changes provide hospitals incentive to reduce preventable events and improve quality of care.
