The Affordable Care Act requires payment reductions starting in 2013 for hospitals with high rates of readmissions. MedPAC analysis indicates that nearly 14 percent of Medicare patients discharged from a hospital to a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) are readmitted to the hospital for conditions that could potentially have been avoided. To promote similar high-quality care in SNFs, the 2014 budget proposal reduces payments by up to three percent for SNFs with high rates of care-sensitive, preventable hospital readmissions, beginning in 2017. According to HHS, savings are estimated at $2.2 billion over 10 years.
A copy of the budget proposal is available here.
If you would like more information, please contact Lori McLaughlin at lmclaughlin@kdlegal.com or 219.227.6075.