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Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

Hospitals:

SMALL TOWN HOSPITALS TO RECEIVE BIG-CITY WAGES

Published on Sat Jan 17, 2004

Special appeals for wage index classification are now under way. The Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services has announced a one-time only appeals process for reclassification to geographic areas with a higher Medicare payment index - good news for some rural hospitals that just fall short under the previous criteria. "Hospitals should be given the opportunity to hire the best nurses and other staff without having to worry about them moving to another hospital just over the county line that is able to pay higher wages," says Dennis Smith, acting CMS administrator. The Medicare reform bill enacted in December set aside $900 million in payments to qualifying hospitals, so rural hospitals should act now to make sure Medicare pays them fairly for labor costs - appeals must be filed by February 15, 2004, according to a Jan. 6 Federal Register notice. To see the rule, go to: www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fedreg/a040106c.html.
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