Neutral Reimbursement Payments

How would site neutral payments affect your agency?  Well, depending on where you are located, you might see a boost in payment.  But if you are in an expensive cost of living area along the West Coast or in the Northeast, your reimbursement could decrease.

Right now the idea is being floated for ‘post acute providers’.  A third party would control how one payment regardless of location would be responsible for how much each provider is to receive.  This idea is similar to ACOs on how payment from Medicare is distributed to providers.

We all know that the referrals from a hospital or SNF result in the most lucrative type of reimbursement.  Should this take effect, it be another serious blow to the industry.   So far, the idea has gained traction with the House Energy and Commerce Committee showing strong support for the bill.

Where did this idea originally come from? MedPac – the advisory board to Congress on Medicare related governance and reimbursement.  Where does MedPac get their data? Cost reports! This is the main reason why we always like to stress the importance of making sure cost report filings are accurate.  We are also strong advocates for updating the reporting methodology to reflect the true cost of operations such as including marketing expenses.

You can read more about the proposal here.