On June 30, America’s Essential Hospitals submitted to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) comments on the fiscal year (FY) 2015 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) proposed rule.
In the rule, CMS proposes reductions to Medicare disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments. The association urges CMS to accurately capture uncompensated care data when calculating the Medicare DSH cuts. Additionally, the rule proposes updates to the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program, Readmissions Reduction Program, Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program, and Inpatient Quality Reporting Program. The association urges CMS to ensure measures and methodologies in these programs are adjusted for socioeconomic status to accurately reflect quality of care and improved patient outcomes and avoid creating bias against any particular type of hospital.
Please contact Xiaoyi Huang, JD, director of policy, at xhuang@essentialhospitals.org or 202.585.0127 with questions.