CMS updates payment policies, rates for inpatient psychiatric facilities

CMS recently updated Medicare payment policies and rates for the Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities Prospective Payment System for the 2017 fiscal year.

CMS estimates inpatient psychiatric facilities payments will increase by 2.2% or $100 million in the 2017 fiscal year.

“This amount reflects a 2.8% [inpatient psychiatric facilities] market basket update less the productivity adjustment of 0.3 percentage point and less the 0.2 percentage point reduction required by law, for a net market basket update of 2.3%,” according to CMS.

Estimated payments to inpatient psychiatric facilities will decrease by 0.1 percentage point due to updating the outlier fixed-dollar loss threshold amount.

In addition, CMS is updating the inpatient psychiatric facilities wage index for the 2017 fiscal year. Wage index values will reflect the Office of Management and Budget area delineations that were finalized in the Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities Prospective Payment System final rule for the 2016 fiscal year.

Some inpatient psychiatric facilities providers had their status changed from rural to urban due to the Office of Management and Budget area delineations in the Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities Prospective Payment System wage index for the 2016 fiscal year.

In the Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities Prospective Payment System final rule for the 2016 fiscal year, CMS implemented a policy to phase out the rural adjustment over 3 years.

Affected inpatient psychiatric facilities received two-thirds of the rural adjustment in the 2016 fiscal year and will receive one-third of the adjustment in the 2017 fiscal year. No rural adjustment will occur in the 2018 fiscal year and subsequent years, according to CMS.

For more information:

The 2017 fiscal year Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities Prospective Payment System notice can be found here.