CMS unveils 2012 hospital Medicare payment proposal

The American Hospital Association responded by saying it was "deeply disappointed" by the proposal, which would cut acute-care hospital payments in the coming year.

CQ HealthBeat: CMS Releases Fiscal 2012 Medicare Payment Proposal For Hospitals
CMS issued a proposal in January that dealt broadly with the program and is expected to announce a final rule governing that program in the near future. ... "The proposals CMS is making today reflect an underlying premise that we can improve the quality of and access to care while at the same time slowing the growth in health care spending," CMS Administrator Donald M. Berwick said in a CMS news release Tuesday. The proposal also includes measures to reduce rates of readmissions for three conditions — heart attacks, heart failure, and pneumonia — and would lower payments starting Oct. 1, 2012 if a facility's readmission rate for the conditions are too high (Reichard, 4/19).

The Hill: Hospitals Blasts Medicare Payment Proposal
The American Hospital Association said Tuesday it was "deeply disappointed" by an Obama administration proposal to cut Medicare payments for acute-care hospitals by 0.5 percent next year. The trade group says a new proposed rule penalizes hospitals because it wrongly assumes that per-patient spending has increased as a result of coding changes rather than hospitals' treatment of more complex and severely ill patients. The rule also increases Medicare payments for long-term-care hospitals by 1.9 percent (Pecquet, 4/19).

In other Medicare payment news:

Center for Public Integrity (iWatch News):Little-Known AMA Committee That Sets Medicare Pay Catches Heat
A little-known but powerful American Medical Association committee that strongly influences how much Medicare pays doctors is catching heat both from lawmakers and family physicians who believe the panel is not representing their interests (Eaton, 4/19).