CMS Proposes Changes to the ‘Two-Midnight’ Rule

Editor's Note

On July 1, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released proposed updates to the “Two-Midnight” rule regarding when inpatient admissions are appropriate for payment under Medicare Part A.

The proposed update allows physicians to use their judgment to admit patients for short hospital stays on a case-by-case basis. CMS would remove oversight of those decisions from its administrative contractors and instead have quality improvement organizations enforce the policy.

Following adoption of the “Two-Midnight” rule, CMS received significant feedback form physicians and other stakeholders that the policy was impacting physician and hospital practices.

On July 1, 2015, CMS released proposed updates to the "Two-Midnight" rule regarding when inpatient admissions are appropriate for payment under Medicare Part A. These changes would continue CMS' long-standing emphasis on the importance of a physician's medical judgment in meeting the needs of Medicare beneficiaries.