Ways & Means releases BBA relief bill

House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-CA) released Balanced Budget Act relief legislation last night, which is scheduled for mark-up tomorrow. Here's what our initial read of the bill finds:

• One-year full market basket update for inpatient services in FY2001.
• One-year full market basket update for outpatient services in FY2001.
• Increase, from 55 to 70 percent, of the amount of bad debt payments that hospitals can claim are caused by care given to qualified low-income Medicare beneficiaries.
• Increase of 6.5 percent in payments for Indirect Medical Education for FY2001 and 6.25 percent for FY2002.
• Elimination of additional one percent cut in Medicare DSH payments for FY2001 and 2002.
• Removal of the 2 percent payment reduction for rehabilitation hospitals for FY2002; rehabilitation hospitals allowed to move immediately to the new PPS.
• Increase in psychiatric hospital incentive payments of one percent for FY2001.
• Equalization of eligibility for Medicare DSH payments between rural and urban hospitals.
• One-year full market basket update for home health and skilled nursing services for FY2001.
• Elimination of skilled nursing facility consolidated billing for Part B patients.
• Change in rules for provider-based status by grandfathering existing provider-based entities for two years, and adding geographic market area option.
• Use of more recent eligibility data for Medicare-dependent hospitals.
• Increase in payments to sole community hospitals by rebasing cost-figures.
• Improvements in payments to critical access hospitals.
• Increase in floor for payments under direct graduate medical education to 85 percent of the national average.

Things will move fast now that legislation is being considered by Ways & Means. Keep the pressure on representatives, senators and the White House for the full inpatient update for 2001 and 2002. Call 1-866-456-CARE or 1-877-224-3121.