Sec. 3141 (pdf), or the “Application of budget neutrality on a national basis in the calculation of the Medicare hospital wage index floor,” essentially allowed for a national adjustment to the area wage index instead of using a state-specific basis.
The hospital associations argued that this provision allowed Massachusetts, in particular, to “manipulate the federal Medicare program, reaping an estimated $367 million annually from the other 49 states,” and if the provision stands, hospitals could “experience reduced funding of more than $3.5 billion over the next 10 years” due to the new system for the Medicare hospital wage index, according to the letter.
The letter also went on to say that if the manipulation of the Medicare wage index is not stopped, more hospital payments will be redistributed at the expense of patient or community need.
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