CMS releases proposed FY 2018 inpatient payments, policies

Editor's Note

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on April 14 issued a proposed rule that would update FY 2018 Medicare inpatient payments and policies.

Among the changes, the rule:

• would increase payment rates by 1.6%, after accounting for inflation and other adjustments required by law
• includes an initial market-basket update of 2.9% for hospitals that are “meaningful users” of electronic health records (EHRs) in FY 2018 and that submit data on quality measures, less a productivity cut of 0.4% and an additional market-basket cut of 0.75%, as mandated by the Affordable Care Act
• proposes an increase of 0.4588% to partially restore cuts made as a result of the American taxpayer Relief Act of 2012
• includes a cut of 0.6% to remove the adjustment it made in FY 2017 to restore the “two-midnight” policy cuts
• increases overall Medicare Disproportionate Share Hospital payments by about $1 billion
• modifies EHR reporting periods from a full year to a minimum of any continuous 90-day period during the calendar year
• would assess readmission penalties based on a hospital’s performance relative to other hospitals with a similar proportion of patients who are eligible for Medicare and Medicaid
• reduces the number of electronic clinical quality measures hospitals must report and shortens the data reporting period.

Comments on the proposed rule may be submitted until June 13, 2017.

Date 2017-04-14 Title Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 Medicare Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long Term Acute Care Hospital (LTCH) Prospective Payment System Proposed Rule, and Request for Information CMS-1677-P Contact [email protected] Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 Medicare Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long Term Acute Care Hospital (LTCH) Prospective Payment System Proposed Rule, and Request for Information CMS-1677-P On April 14, 2017, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today issued a proposed rule that would update 2018 Medicare payment and polices when patients are admitted into hospitals.