On April 18, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the proposed 2017 Hospital Inpatient and Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) payment and policy rule. The proposed rule, which would apply to approximately 3,330 acute care hospitals and approximately 430 LTCHs, would affect discharges occurring on or after October 1, 2016. (Please note physician payment is made via the Physician Fee Schedule, which will be released in July.) The Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) pays hospitals for services provided to Medicare beneficiaries using a national base payment rate, adjusted for a number of factors that affect hospitals’ costs, including the patient’s condition and the cost of hospital labor in the hospital’s geographic area. CMS generally sets payment rates
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