CMS has issued a technical correction to its 2013 final rule for long-term care hospitals, which went into effect Oct. 1.
According to the correction, CMS inadvertently made several errors related to the timeframe and methodology of its 25-percent payment adjustment threshold policy. The correction updates these errors and outlines "CMS' methodology for determining the percentage of discharges that will not count toward the 25 percent payment adjustment threshold policy for LTCHs and their satellite facilities with cost reporting periods beginning between July 1 and Oct. 1, 2012," according to an AHA News Now report.
CMS said that the changes are not "substantive" compared to the final rule for LTCH payments.
Under the 25-percent payment adjustment threshold, if more than 25 percent of a LTCH's discharges within a cost report period are admitted from a co-located hospital (e.g., the LTCH is a hospital-within-a-hospital), payments to the LTCH for discharges exceeding the 25 percent are adjusted.
According to the correction, CMS inadvertently made several errors related to the timeframe and methodology of its 25-percent payment adjustment threshold policy. The correction updates these errors and outlines "CMS' methodology for determining the percentage of discharges that will not count toward the 25 percent payment adjustment threshold policy for LTCHs and their satellite facilities with cost reporting periods beginning between July 1 and Oct. 1, 2012," according to an AHA News Now report.
CMS said that the changes are not "substantive" compared to the final rule for LTCH payments.
Under the 25-percent payment adjustment threshold, if more than 25 percent of a LTCH's discharges within a cost report period are admitted from a co-located hospital (e.g., the LTCH is a hospital-within-a-hospital), payments to the LTCH for discharges exceeding the 25 percent are adjusted.