Report Sees Flaws in Proposed Changes in Hospital Wage Index
March 31, 2010
A new report to CMS says most hospitals receiving wage index reclassifications and exceptions would not benefit from a new methodology proposed by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, according to AHA News Now.
MedPAC's proposal would average out area and county-level wages and then eliminate large differences among hospitals in the same area.
The report by Acumen, a consultancy based in Burlingame, Calif., instead calls for a wage area framework, based on hospital-specific characteristics such as commuting times from hospitals to population centers.
Read AHA News Now's report on the hospital wage index.
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