In a June 9 letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), America’s Essential Hospitals responded to the agency’s proposed annual update to the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS).
The association called on CMS to use its authority to codify a federal designation for essential hospitals and use the designation to target funding and other support across CMS programs. In addition, the association commented on the proposed payment policies and quality reporting proposals of interest to essential hospitals.
Specifically, the association urged CMS to:
- Increase the proposed annual hospital payment update to account for current and historic increases in hospital costs
- Not mandate participation in the proposed Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR-X) model
- Prioritize the distribution of new graduate resident medical education slots to essential hospitals
- Ensure the accuracy of calculated disproportionate share hospital payment pools
- Withdraw the proposed adjustment to overhead cost calculations for organ acquisitions
- Streamline quality programs by eliminating unnecessary quality measures and withdrawing proposed additions
The association also responded to a request for information on possible updates to the Birthing-Friendly Hospital designation. America’s Essential Hospitals urged CMS to ensure the measure appropriately identifies which hospitals provide high-quality care, inclusive of complex patients.
Contact Director of Policy Rob Nelb, MPH, at rnelb@essentialhospitals.org or 202.585.0127 with questions.
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