CMS issues Medicare IRF, SNF and hospice proposed rules for 2017

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today issued proposed rules for inpatient rehabilitation facilities, skilled nursing facilities and hospice providers for fiscal year 2017. For IRFs, CMS proposes a net payment increase of 1.6%, or $125 million, compared to FY 2016. This includes a 2.7% market basket that would be offset by cuts of 0.5% for productivity and a further Affordable Care Act-mandated cut of 0.75%, as well as an increase of 0.2% for high-cost outlier cases. The SNF proposed rule would implement a net payment increase of 2.1%, or $800 million, compared to FY 2016, after accounting for a 2.6% market-basket update and a 0.5% productivity reduction mandated by the ACA. In FY 2017, hospice payments would increase by 2.0% overall, a $330 million increase compared to FY 2016, after accounting for a 2.8% market-basket update and reductions of 0.5% for productivity and 0.3% as required by the ACA. In addition, the hospice cap for FY 2017 would be updated by 2.0%. CMS also proposes new measures and other changes to the hospice, IRF and SNF quality reporting programs, as well as the SNF value-based purchasing program. CMS will accept comments on the proposed rules through June 20. AHA members will receive more information on the proposed rules.