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

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today issued final rules for inpatient rehabilitation facilities, skilled nursing facilities and hospice providers for fiscal year 2017. For IRFs, CMS implements a net payment increase of 1.9%, or $145 million, compared to FY 2016. This includes a 2.7% market basket that will be offset by cuts of 0.3% for productivity and a further Affordable Care Act-mandated cut of 0.75%, as well as an increase of 0.3% for high-cost outlier cases. The SNF final rule implements a net payment increase of 2.4%, or $920 million, compared to FY 2016, after accounting for a 2.7% market-basket update and a 0.3% productivity reduction mandated by the ACA. In FY 2017, hospice payments will increase by 2.1% overall, a $350 million increase compared to FY 2016, after accounting for a 2.7% market-basket update and reductions of 0.3% for productivity and 0.3% as required by the ACA. In addition, the hospice cap for FY 2017 will be updated by 2.1%. CMS also finalized new measures and other changes to the hospice, IRF and SNF quality reporting programs, as well as the SNF value-based purchasing program.  The rules will take effect Oct. 1.