On August 2, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published its Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Medicare Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long Term Care Acute Care Hospital (LTCH) Prospective Payment System (PPS) final rule (CMS-1716-F). The final rule is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on August 16, 2019 but is available now at this this link with a CMS fact sheet describing the proposed rule accessible here. This final rule is effective October 1, 2019.
CMS projects that under the final rule total Medicare spending on inpatient hospital services, including capital, will increase by approximately $3.8 billion ( 3.0 percent), in FY 2020. CMS estimates that LTCH PPS payment will increase by about $43 million (1.0 percent).
Over the next week we will scrutinize this 2,273 page final rule and provide an in-depth analysis.