CMS Releases IPPS Proposed Rule for FY 2024

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a proposed rule on Monday that would update Medicare payment policies for hospitals under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and the Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System (LTCH PPS) for fiscal year (FY) 2024. The proposed rule is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on May 1.

CMS proposes a $3.3 billion (2.8%) increase in operating payment rates paid under the IPPS for general acute care hospitals that successfully participate in the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Program and are electronic health record (EHR) users. Additionally, the agency expects to increase the LTCH PPS standard federal payment rate by 2.9%. As a result, LTCH payments under the dual-rate payment system would decrease by 24 million (0.9%).

The proposed rule also includes changes to the New COVID-19 Treatments Add-on Payment (NCTAP), which the agency established during the COVID-19 public health emergency. In FY22, CMS finalized a change to agency policy to extend NCTAP through the end of the fiscal year in which the PHE ends for all eligible products. If the PHE ends on May 11 as planned, discharges for eligible products like COVID-19 convalescent plasma will be eligible for the NCTAP through Sept. 30.

In addition, the proposed rule contains provisions that seek to support graduate medical training in rural areas better, increase the transparency and improve efficiency of the new technology add-on payment program, and address the growing concern over closures of rural hospitals. The rule also aims to measure the impact of CMS policies on health equity more explicitly.

CMS released a fact sheet that summarizes key provisions of the proposed rule. The agency is accepting comments on the proposed rule through June 9.

AABB is analyzing the proposed rule for provisions that may be of interest to the blood and biotherapies community.