Medicare officials released new hospital payment rules for 2014 that would increase certain budgets and take steps to implement healthcare reform measures mandated by the Affordable Care Act.
CMS increased payment rates for inpatient stays at both general and long-term care hospitals and hones definitions for what types of situations merit hospital admission, responding to "recent concerns about extended Medicare beneficiary stays in the hospital outpatient department," according to the report.
The boosts are a win for healthcare, but only enough to maintain the status quo, according to Leerink Swann analysts, who called news of the proposal a "non-event."
"While we view the low-to-mid single digit y/y reimbursement increases favorably, we expect that MedTech companies overall will continue to face pricing pressure for the foreseeable future as providers look to squeeze device manufacturers in their quest to reduce costs," the analysts wrote. "However, the ultimate impact to medical device pricing is difficult to ascertain as the correlation between CMS coding updates and overall pricing is not necessarily a 1 to 1 trend."
Under the new terms hospitals will get $1.2 billion net boost and long-term care providers will get an extra $72 million, representing increases of 0.7% and 1.3% over prior budgets, respectively.
The new rules also limit hospital readmission penalties and outline programs to improve patient safety, in line with programs prescribed by the Affordable Care Act.
"This rule helps improve hospital care and establishes clearer guidance to hospitals for when we will consider inpatient care to be appropriate so the system works better for patients and providers," CMS administrator Marilyn Tavenner said in prepared remarks.
