Nursing homes, hospices and inpatient psychiatric hospitals would get pay bumps in fiscal 2025 under a series of proposed rules issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Thursday.
Skilled nursing homes would get a 4.1% increase in Medicare reimbursements under one proposed rule.
The proposed regulation also includes revisions that would tighten CMS oversight of those facilities. It would strengthen CMS’ ability to impose financial penalties to ensure health and safety deficiencies are corrected. CMS could also expand the mix and type of penalties it imposes.
Related: CMS proposes 2.8% increase for inpatient rehab facilities
The proposed rate increase and enforcement authority come as nursing homes are bracing for a federal staffing mandate that could require them to provide three hours of care per resident, per day, costing the industry an estimated $40.6 billion over 10 years, according to CMS. The nursing home industry has said the mandate could force operators to close or limit admissions.
A trade group representing nursing home operators said it appreciated the rate increase, but that the bump would not cover the overall cost of the staffing mandate.
"We implore the administration and CMS to reverse course on this staffing mandate; otherwise, more nursing homes will close, more vulnerable residents will be displaced by these closures, and more seniors won’t be able to access the long-term care they need," American Health Care Association CEO Mark Parkinson said in a news release.
CMS on Thursday additionally proposed a 2.6% Medicare reimbursement hike for hospice operators in fiscal 2025. The proposed rule includes a 2.6% increase in the statutory aggregate cap that CMS will pay hospices per patient next fiscal year.
Inpatient psychiatric hospitals would receive a 2.7% reimbursement increase next fiscal year, under a separate CMS proposal.
