Draft Comments Available on FY 2019 Medicare Post-acute Care Proposed Rules
Posted on June 15, 2018
The MHA has drafted comments on each of the proposed rules to update the Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) prospective payment system (PPS) for fiscal year (FY) 2019 for post-acute care settings. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released proposed rules in April to update the PPSs for long-term-care hospitals (LTCHs), inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs), inpatient psychiatric facilities (IPFs) and skilled nursing facilities (SNFs).
Consistent with its comments regarding the inpatient PPS proposed rule (see related article), the MHA supports the proposed removal of measures from the quality reporting programs in the LTCH, IRF, IPF and SNF settings.
While the MHA supports the CMS promoting interoperability, the association objects to the CMS requiring interoperability as a Medicare condition of participation. This requirement would likely result in some hospitals and post-acute-care facilities no longer being eligible to receive payments from the Medicare program. Instead, the MHA urges the CMS to provide additional incentive payments to help ensure that hospitals and post-acute-care facilities have the resources necessary for investing in technologies that promote interoperability.
Within the past month, the MHA distributed facility-specific impact analyses to members for each of the post-acute care proposed rules. When the CMS releases the final rules, expected in early August, the MHA will distribute updated impact analyses.
The MHA encourages members to submit comments to the CMS by June 25 for LTCHs and June 26 for IRFs, IPFs and SNFs. Members with questions should contact Vickie Kunz at the MHA.
Tags: Medicare, proposed rule, LTCH, IPF, PPS, SNF, IRF, FFS, comments
Posted in: Member News