The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today announced nursing home payment rates for fiscal year 2011 will increase 1.7 percent. This increase will result in an estimated $542 million increase in Medicare payments to nursing homes across the country during FY 2011.
CMS updates the payment rates annually, using a market basket index reflecting changes in the prices of goods and services used to furnish covered care in nursing homes. In addition, CMS makes a forecast error adjustment whenever the difference between the forecasted and actual change in the market basket exceeds a 0.5 percentage point threshold for the most recently available fiscal year for which there is final data. In initially establishing the forecast error adjustment, CMS noted that it would reflect both upward and downward adjustments, as appropriate.
“CMS is committed to ensuring that beneficiaries in skilled nursing facilities continue to receive high quality care while paying those facilities appropriately for that care,” said Jonathan Blum CMS deputy administrator and director of the Center for Medicare. “The payment rates for the coming year that we are announcing today reflect that goal.”
For more information, see www.cms.hhs.gov/center/snf.asp.
(Source: [removed]Press Release[/removed])
