Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement
MEDICAID SHORTFALLS BODE ILL FOR NURSING HOMES' BOTTOM LINES
The sunset of Medicare add-on payments last year, looming therapy caps, proposed bad-debt reimbursement changes and tight Medicaid budgets make for a stormy reimbursement forecast for long-term care facilities. Even the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services admits that its own policies appear to be taking a toll on the nursing home industry. In "Health Care Industry Market Update: Nursing Facilities," the agency notes that Wall Street has a generally bleak view of the industry, thanks to "uncertainties related to government payment and the rising cost of liability insurance." To see the report, go to . Lesson Learned: While the outlook is generally bleak for long-term care, analysts suggest that companies that diversify into assisted living and continuing care retirement centers may be in a better position to weather the tough times.
While the 2.9 percent Medicare payment increase slated for 2004 is welcome, it may not be enough: "The nursing home industry continues to be in dire straights," says one analyst quoted in the report.
Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement
- Reimbursement:
TAX BILL: STATES GET HELP, BUT RURAL PROVIDERS MUST WAIT
States will get $20 billion in new federal money under the economic growth package passed [...] - Medicaid:
COMMERCE NAMES MEDICAID TASK FORCE
In search of Medicaid revisions to enhance the program and save cash, House Energy and [...] - Medicare+Choice:
2004 PAYMENT RATES OFFER LITTLE HELP TO STRUGGLING M+COS
Will this be the straw that breaks Medicare+ Choice's back or the final insult that [...] - Medicare+Choice:
SOCIAL HMO PROGRAM COULD BE NEARING END
Medicare+Choice plans that have wanted to get in on Medicare's social HMO demonstration may never [...] - Pharmaceuticals:
DRUG REBATE EXPERIMENT WEATHERS HIGH COURT CHALLENGE
A state program that could point toward lower reimbursement for the nation's drugmakers came one [...] - Long-Term Care:
MEDICAID SHORTFALLS BODE ILL FOR NURSING HOMES' BOTTOM LINES
The sunset of Medicare add-on payments last year, looming therapy caps, proposed bad-debt reimbursement changes [...] - Labs:
WHAT TO EXPECT ON CLIA SURVEYS -THIS QUARTER
Good news for clinical labs: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is keeping surveyors [...] - Hospitals:
HOSPITALS MUST BEEF UP POST-ACUTE TRANSFER COMPLIANCE
Hospitals with high error rates for post-acute transfers could be in for aggressive enforcement actions [...] - Hospitals:
RURAL HOSPITAL TRUMPS FEDS ON DSH
Rural facilities may be more likely to qualify for disproportionate share hospital payments than they [...] - Physicians:
SPECIALTY HOSPITALS FEEL THE HEAT
The compliance ground rules for physician-owned specialty hospitals could be in for a major shakeup. [...] - Hospitals:
GETTING IT RIGHT ON OPPS MULTIPLE-PROCEDURE CLAIMS
A hospital's misunderstanding of outpatient prospective payment system billing rules has caught the attention of [...] - PROGRAM MEMO ROUNDUP
Health care providers who've been shortchanged on services involving mammography-related computer aided detection equipment may [...] - BILL WATCH
The following House bills were introduced: H.R. 2151. A bill to amend title XVIII of [...] - REGISTER WATCH
Arkansas and Michigan will each get another chance to argue for state plan amendments previously [...]
