House Democrats' reform bill | MDSCentral

Technorati Tags: LTC,Medicare cuts

Introduced on July 14 and cited as the work of three different House committees, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 addresses multiple long-term care issues.

Of most concern to long-term care providers and industry leaders are the proposed cuts in Medicare payments to SNFs, which would add up to approximately $44 billion over the next 10 years. The cuts are included in multiple provisions of the bill, but the proposed changes with the most significant impact on SNF reimbursement are as follows:

• On January 1, 2010, the SNF market basket update implemented on October 1, 2009 will be removed.
• The SNF market basket will be further reduces by a productivity adjustment.
• As of October 1, 2010, SNFs will only be paid a certain percent of the charges on a claim if the resident was readmitted to a hospital within 30 days of his or her initial discharge. For fiscal year 2011, the percent paid would be 0.993.

House Democrats' reform bill | MDSCentral