CMS Finalizes Medicare Payment Cuts to Be $130 Million in 2017
Posted on Tuesday, November 1, 2016 3:25 PM
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), home health agencies can expect Medicare payments in 2017 to be reduced by $130 million. Earlier this year, CMS announced that health care payments would be reduced by $180 million in 2017. However, the numbers prove to be less than CMS projected.
Once the proposed payment changes were announced in June, the Medicare agency increased the home health payment update from 2.3% ($420 million) to 2.5% ($450 million).
The estimated decrease reflects the following:
• A 2.5% home health payment update
• Adjustments to the 60-day episode payment rate, per-visit payment rates and non-routine medical supplies conversion factor
• A -0.97% adjustment to the 60-day episode payment rate to account for nominal case-mix growth
In addition to the finalized payment changes, CMS announced its other changes:
• Improvements to meet measures of the IMPACT Act
• Finalized its mandatory home health value-based purchasing model
The final rule will be available on the Federal Register November 3, 2016.
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