Medicare pays long-term care hospitals less than half the cost of care for site-neutral cases under the LTCH prospective payment system, AHA told the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Friday. “Our analyses show that these substantial underpayments are occurring because, contrary to CMS’s projections, the acuity level and cost of care for LTCH site-neutral cases far exceed those of comparable inpatient PPS cases,” wrote the AHA. Given these concerns, AHA urged CMS in the LTCH PPS proposed rule for fiscal year 2019 to remove the second budget neutrality adjustment applied to LTCH site-neutral cases and to permanently withdraw the LTCH 25% Rule.
 

Related News Articles

Headline
The Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Aug. 21 announced the creation of a Healthcare Advisory…
Headline
A JAMA study published Aug. 18 found that plan design changes by Medicare Part D insurers, particularly for Medicare Advantage plans, following passage of the…
Chairperson's File
Public
The recently enacted One Big Beautiful Bill Act will bring big changes to health care. AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack joined me for a Leadership Dialogue…
Headline
The House Ways and Means Subcommittees on Health and Oversight held a joint hearing today to discuss lessons learned, challenges and opportunities to improve…
Headline
The AHA today expressed support for the Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill that would eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient…
Headline
The AHA July 8 wrote in opposition to the “Patient Access to Higher Quality Health Care Act” (H.R. 4002), which would repeal current law banning the creation…