On April 2, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a proposed rule for Medicare Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRF) Payment Rates for fiscal year (FY) 2027.
The proposed rule indicates a 2.4 percent increase for IRFs. In addition to payment updates the rule proposes applying the third and final year of the phase-out of the rural adjustment for IRFs transitioning from rural to urban that were reclassified due to Core-Based Statistical Area Delineations. CMS also proposes changes to the IRF coverage rules stating that current functional status be documented at admission, the initial Interdisciplinary Team (IDT) meeting must take place on or before the fourth day of admission, and all therapies must be started within 36 hours of admission. Additionally, CMS proposes to shorten the timeframe for data submission from 4.5 months to 45 days beginning in FY 2029. CMS has also included a request for information on modernizing the IRF PPS methodologies for classifying patient case-mix.