Unless another delay is secured, Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments will be cut by $2 billion beginning in fiscal year 2018, escalating to $8 billion by 2024.

The meeting came a day after the association submitted comments to the agency in response to the proposed annual update of the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System.

The proposed rule would further cut payments to non-excepted provider-based departments to 25 percent of the Medicare Outpatient Prospective Payment System rate and change certain quality reporting requirements.

By cutting reimbursement rates for Part B drugs to 340B hospitals, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services would harm essential hospitals, which care for the nation’s poorest, most complex, and costliest patients.

Proposed rules would affect outpatient payment rates, reduce Medicare Part B payments to hospitals in the 340B Program, and revise site-neutral policies.

The Medicare Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule for calendar year 2018 includes physician payment and quality program changes.

The proposed rule would increase outpatient payment rates by 1.75 percent and drastically reduce Medicare Part B reimbursement for drugs purchased through the 340B Drug Pricing Program.

Essential hospitals can expect the new Congress' Republican leaders to follow through quickly with their pledge to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

A CMS spokesperson said the project was pulled after the agency reviewed public comments — there were more than 1,300 comments submitted, mostly negative.

The legislation, expected to quickly receive the president's signature, includes two key advocacy goals for the association: risk adjustment of the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program and partial relief from hospital outpatient department payment cuts.

Congress is poised to pass legislation that would include socioeconomic risk adjustment for the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program and some relief from payment cuts for new hospital outpatient departments.

Under the rule, CMS would increase the OPPS payment rate by 1.65 percent and provide flexibility in the meaningful use of EHRs, among other things.

CMS provides more flexibility than previously proposed, ensuring non-grandfathered, off-campus hospital outpatient departments will be reimbursed in 2017.

In the rule, CMS revised its earlier position not to direct any physician fee schedule payments to non-grandfathered, off-campus hospital clinics in 2017 and, instead, established a 50 percent interim rate.

The proposed rule updates the payment rate for services provided in hospital outpatient departments and provisions relating to quality reporting.

The proposed rule would implement Section 603 of the Bipartisan Budget Act, which reduced payments for new, off-campus hospital outpatient departments.

America's Essential Hospitals denounces the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services decision to limit flexibility and withhold hospital payments for new, off-campus hospital outpatient departments.

A 2015 budget law that creates site-neutral payment for off-campus hospital outpatient departments does not directly affect 340B Drug Pricing Program eligibility, but changes to how hospitals report Medicare costs does raise concerns.

In letter to CMS, association raises issues of payment, definition of off-campus outpatient department of a provider, and 340B eligibility.

Changes include reducing OPPS payment by 0.3 percent, relaxing two-midnight policy requirements, and updating OQR measures.

In comments on the CY 2016 OPPS proposed rule, the association calls on CMS to consider the unique challenges of caring for the most vulnerable, including in relation to the two-midnight policy and ambulatory payment classification.

RACs will not conduct postpayment reviews of patient status for Medicare claims with an inpatient admission between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, 2015.

Agency proposes to reduce slightly payment rates for hospital outpatient services, relax some provisions of the two-midnight policy, and update quality reporting measures.

In a new policy brief, America's Essential Hospitals describes how billions of dollars in reductions to Medicaid and Medicare funding threaten care at essential hospitals.

Topics of member interest include payment updates, the OQR Program, and the MSSP.

The rules, released Oct. 31, finalized a number of provisions regarding payments, data collection in outpatient departments, quality programs, and the MSSP.