America’s Essential Hospitals stated in a Dec. 18, 2013 letter that it is necessary to delay enforcement of the two-midnight policy to allow the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services more time to assess the impact of the policy on patients and hospitals. The two-midnight policy, finalized in the fiscal year 2014 Inpatient Prospective Payment System final rule, creates a presumption that inpatient admissions that last fewer than two midnights may be inappropriate for inpatient reimbursement.
Please contact Shawn Gremminger, assistant vice president for legislative affairs, at sgremminger@essentialhospitals.org or 202-585-0112 with questions.