The CMS has updated prospective payment rates for inpatient rehabilitation facilities for fiscal 2011 with a marketbasket increase of 2.25%. Published in the Federal Register, the notice highlighted that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act required the marketbasket increase factor to be reduced by 0.25 percentage points for both fiscal 2010 and 2011.
Earlier, the CMS revised the rate for fiscal 2010 for all discharges occurring on or after April 1. These most recent payment changes—which are relative to the fiscal 2010 payment changes—affect discharges that occur on or after Oct. 1, 2010, and on or before Sept. 20, 2011.
"We estimate the FY 2011 impact will be a net increase of $135 million in payments to IRF providers," according to the 50-page notice.
The notice also mentioned that the agency reviews the major components of the inpatient rehabilitation prospective payment system in an effort to enhance the payment system. "For FY 2010, we implemented a change to our methodology that was designed to decrease the IRF PPS volatility by using a three-year moving average to calculate the facility-level adjustment factors," the CMS said in the notice. "This year, we are evaluating the effectiveness of the new methodology in stabilizing the IRF PPS rate structure. We plan to then, if necessary, propose further adjustments through a future rulemaking process." See the notice (PDF).