The proposed rule would apply to more than 3,500 acute care hospitals paid under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS). The IPPS was intended to reward hospitals for being efficient by making a single payment to the hospital based on the average costs of treating a patient with a particular diagnosis, rather than paying for the actual costs of each case. However, until recently, Medicare did not have the legal authority to use its payment system to encourage hospitals to improve the quality of care they furnish.

The proposed rule also includes proposals to update Medicare payment rates and policies for inpatient hospitals for FY 2009. Overall, the proposed rule is estimated to increase Medicare payments to acute care hospitals by nearly $4.0 billion.


Comments on the proposed rule will be accepted through June 13. CMS will respond to comments in a final rule to be issued on or before August 1, 2008.

For more information, please see the CMS Website at:

http://www.cms.hhs.gov/AcuteInpatientPPS/IPPS/itemdetail.asp?filterType=none&filterByDID=0&sortByDID=4&sortOrder=descending&itemID=CMS1209719&intNumPerPage=10






Back to HCB News

More Industry Headlines