Medicare hospital payments may climb $4 billion

Under the terms of a new proposed rule, Medicare reimbursement for inpatient hospitals may go up by almost $4 billion. The new rule would apply to patients who are discharged from hospitals during fiscal 2009, which begins on Oct. 1, 2008. However, the increase doesn't come without its own pricetag. Not only is the agency planning to expand the list of "never events" for which it won't compensate hospitals, it's also adding 43 new quality measures for which hospitals will have to report data if they want the full annual payment update.

To learn more about the rule:
- read this HFMA News brief

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