Under the two-midnight rule, a Medicare beneficiary must be hospitalized for two midnights before their stay is considered an inpatient admission. Stays lasting less than two midnights must be treated and billed as outpatient. The rule also reduces inpatient prospective payment system rates for fiscal years 2014 through 2018 by 0.2 percent, or $220 million in the aggregate for each year.
The lawsuits allege that the rule violates federal regulations and does not take hospitals’ considerations into account, according to court documents.
The plaintiff hospitals have asked the court to declare the rule’s 0.2 percent IPPS cut invalid, require HHS to recalcuate the payment rates for fiscal year 2014 to offset the cuts hospitals incurred under the two-midnight rule, and require the HHS to award the hospitals the payment difference.
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