Yesterday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the Medicare Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long-Term Acute Care Hospital Final Rule. It includes increases in payment rates for hospitals, new requirements for hospitals to report payer-specific negotiated charges, and policy changes when a graduate medical teaching hospital or residency program closes. CMS is also adopting the most recent Office of Management and Budget (OMB) statistical area delineations, which results in 34 urban counties becoming rural, 47 rural counties becoming urban, and several urban counties shifting between existing and new urban statistical areas. These shifts may impact the payment rates for hospitals located in those areas. Read more here.
