New SNF Part A Rates Effective Sunday
With the start of the 2018 Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) on Oct. 1, 2017, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will implement updated Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Medicare Part A rates. As required by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), the market basket percentage used to adjust rates for FFY 2018, after the application of the productivity adjustment, will be 1 percent. Regional wage indexes are updated at the same time and vary region to region. Please note that several regions experienced reductions in their wage index large enough to drive their FY 2018 rates below their FFY 2017 rates. These include Elmira, whose wage index dropped by 3.3 percent; Kingston (Ulster), with a 2.3 percent decrease; and Watertown (Jefferson), down 1.8 percent.
Oct. 1st also marks the date on which homes that did not meet the required reporting threshold for the SNF Quality Reporting Program (QRP) will begin seeing a 2 percent penalty.
The LeadingAge NY memo summarizing the SNF PPS Final Rule provides a listing of rates for each region and is available here. It also includes a summary of provisions that will govern the QRP and Value Based Payment program going forward. To download the rate listing as an Excel file, please click here.
Contact: Darius Kirstein, dkirstein@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8841