Increase in Reimbursement
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services posted payment updates for skilled nursing and inpatient rehabilitation facilities' prospective payment systems for fiscal 2011. Nursing homes will realize a 1.7% increase in its market basket rate. The nursing home increase was actually 2.3%, but federal regulators noted that an automatic click down of 0.6% was put into effect because overpayments were made at that rate in fiscal 2009. The net nationwide gain in Medicare payments to skilled nursing facilities will be $542 million in fiscal 2011.
CMS would be putting MDS 3.0 into effect on Oct. 1, which will modify resident assessment tool. As previously indicated, the RUGs-IV refined payment system will begin at the same time but will be recalibrated in the future, after CMS devises an appropriate way to recalibrate payments.
The SNF and IRF payment updates for fiscal 2011 will be officially published in the Federal Register.
