My Cart - Saturday, September 4, 2010
RSS FeedRUG-IV Payments Reset to Original October 2010 Implementation Date
Ellen M. Berry, PT, a research analyst for CMS, stated during the AANAC Spring Conference last month, that the RUG-IV will go into effect with a hybrid RUG-III to be implemented if necessary.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has confirmed that it will begin payments under the fourth version of the Resource Utilization Group (RUG-IV) classification system on October 1, 2010. A partial delay of the RUG-IV system occurred with the passage of healthcare reform, setting back RUG-IV payments until October 2011.
“[W]e will apply interim payment rates, effective October 1, 2010, that reflect not only the use of MDS 3.0 but also the new RUG-IV system in its entirety as finalized in the FY 2010 SNF PPS final rule,” CMS said in an update on Monday. “Once the necessary infrastructure is in place, we will then retroactively adjust the rates to reflect a hybrid RUG-III (HR-III) system which incorporates RUG-IV's specific revisions on concurrent therapy and the look-back period within the framework of the existing 53-group RUG-III system, along with the use of MDS 3.0.”
CMS noted that this approach should allow payments to be made with the least amount of disruption for providers and beneficiaries. However, if Congress passes the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act bill, which would repeal the delay on RUG-IV, it would “thus eliminate the need to retroactively adjust payments,” CMS said.
News of CMS applying these interim payment rates was originally released by Ellen M. Berry, PT, a research analyst for CMS, during the AANAC Spring Conference last month.