(April 19, 2024) – On Wednesday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued its fiscal year 2025 Inpatient Prospective Payment System proposed rule. The comment period is open until June 10, 2024. View the CMS fact sheet. Major proposals include:
- A 2.6 percent increase in IPPS payments over FY 2024. This reflects a market basket update of 3.0 percent minus a 0.4 percent productivity adjustment.
- A separate IPPS payment for small hospitals to help establish and maintain a buffer stock of essential medicines.
- Continuing the low wage index hospital policy for at least three more years beginning in FY 2025.
- Implementing revised statistical area delineations based on the 2020 Census. As a result, 54 counties and 24 hospitals previously considered rural would now be located in urban areas. Conversely, 53 urban counties and 33 hospitals will become rural.
- Implementing the application and award process for 200 new Graduate Medical Education residency slots, providing at least half go to psychiatry or psychiatry sub-specialties.
- Requesting information on implementing solutions to improve access to quality care during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum.
- A new mandatory model, the Transforming Episode Accountability Model, will be implemented for selected acute care hospitals to ensure beneficiaries receive coordinated, high-quality care after certain surgical procedures.
Please reach out to Shannan Flach at (785) 233-7436 with questions.
--Shannan Flach