MedPAC Forecasts a 4.2% Decrease in Medicare Margins for LTACHs and Proposes 2010 Payment Rate Increase

Posted by Jason Greis on January 4, 2009 under Articles | Be the First to Comment

On December 4, 2008 the Medicare Payment Advisory Committee (MedPAC) held a public meeting to review the adequacy of Medicare payments under the Long Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System (LTCH-PPS) for services provided by LTACHs.  Commissioners reviewed data related to Medicare payment and cost trends, access to capital, quality of care, access to care, and other factors.  MedPAC predicts that average LTACH Medicare margins will decrease industry-wide from 4.7% in 2007 to 0.5% in 2009 primarily as a result of accelerating growth in the cost of care and recently enacted Medicare payment policy changes.  As a result, MedPAC proposed a draft recommendation to Congress in favor of an increase to the Medicare payment rate for LTACH services for the 2010 Rate Year by the projected rate of increase in the market basket index, less adjustments for productivity growth. Read More...