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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued the final rule for the long-term care hospital (LTCH) prospective payment system (PPS) for federal fiscal year (FFY) 2020. The provisions of the final rule will be effective Oct. 1, 2020.
Below are highlights of the final rule.
Payment Impact
As provided in the FFY 2016 final rule, LTCHs are reimbursed under a dual-rate system; patients who meet specified criteria are reimbursed by the LTCH PPS standard federal payment amount and remaining patients are reimbursed at the lower site-neutral payment rate. Implementation of the dual-rate payment system included a transition period during which facilities received a blended rate. For cost reporting periods beginning in FFY 2020, the transition period will end and LTCHs will be paid exclusively on the site-neutral payment rate for patients who do not meet LTCH PPS criteria.
Overall, CMS projects that LTCH PPS payments will increase by approximately 1%, or $43 million. For cases reimbursed at the site-neutral rate, CMS projects a decrease of approximately 5.9%.
Quality Reporting/SPADEs
CMS finalizes several proposals relating to the LTCH Quality Reporting Program (QRP), including the addition of several standardized patient assessment data elements (SPADEs), several of which address social determinants of health. CMS also finalizes two new measures addressing transfer of health information and changes the existing “Discharge to Community” measure to exclude baseline nursing home residents.
