A group of hospital associations and systems has requested that a federal court grant an immediate favorable ruling in their lawsuit challenging a pay cut related to CMS' new two-midnight rule.
The group filed the lawsuit in April contending CMS violated federal law and regulation when it adopted a 0.2 percent payment offset related to the two-midnight rule, under which inpatient admissions must span at least two midnights to qualify for Medicare Part A payments.
In a motion for summary judgment against HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the plaintiffs wrote, "CMS's 0.2 percent payment cut is based on the premise that a policy that makes it more difficult for a Medicare beneficiary to qualify as an inpatient will produce an increase in the number of inpatient cases. That premise is both highly implausible and wholly unexplained. And the resulting policy is unlawful."
The plaintiffs stated the court "can and should" invalidate the payment cut and require CMS to recalculate rates for the fiscal year 2014 inpatient prospective payment system, according to the motion.
The plaintiffs include the American Hospital Association, Greater New York Hospital Association, Healthcare Association of New York State, New Jersey Hospital Association, The Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C., The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, and hospitals that are part of Phoenix-based Banner Health and Philadelphia-based Einstein Healthcare Network.
More Articles on the Two-Midnight Rule:
CMS Updates Two-Midnight Guidance
CMS' 2015 IPPS Proposed Rule: 10 Points to Know
Hospitals Take CMS' Two-Midnight Rule to Federal Court