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CMS proposes 2018 Medicare payment, policy updates for hospital admissions

CMS issued a proposed rule to update 2018 Medicare payment and policies for patients admitted into the hospital, according to a press release. The rule seeks to relieve regulatory burdens for providers, support patient-doctor relationships and encourage transparency, flexibility and innovation to transform the health care delivery system and the Medicare program.

“Through this proposed rule, we want to reduce burdens for hospitals so they can focus on providing high quality care for patients,” Seema Verma, MPH, CMS Administrator, said in the release. “Medicare is better able to support the work of dedicated hospitals and clinicians who provide the care that people need with these more flexible and simplified approaches.”

CMS will put a strong focus on patient-centered care, enabling providers to direct their time and resources to patients and improve outcomes. CMS is proposing a 1-year regulatory moratorium on the payment policy threshold for patient admissions in hospitals that provide long-term care while they continue to evaluate these hospitals’ policies. This regulatory ban will relieve providers of administrative burdens and encourage patient choice. Additionally, CMS is proposing to decrease clinical quality measure reporting requirements for hospitals that have implemented electronic health records.

In fiscal year 2018, CMS projects that hospitals would see a total increase in inpatient operating prospective payments of 2.9% because of the combination of proposed policies and payment adjustments. Based on the alterations included in the proposed rule, CMS projects that payments to long-term care hospitals would decrease by roughly 3.75% in fiscal year 2018.

To help achieve transparency, flexibility and program innovation, CMS is also releasing a Request for Information to solicit ideas for regulatory, policy, practice and procedural changes. The Request for Information will guide discussion on future regulatory action related to inpatient and long-term hospitals.

Disclosure: Verma is CMS Administrator.