Rural-Urban Issues in the Wage Index Adjustment for Prospective Payment in Skilled Nursing Facilities. Findings Brief.

摘要

In July of 1998, the method for determining payments for Medicare services in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) began a three-year transition from retrospective cost-based reimbursement to a SNF prospective payment system (SNF PPS). SNF PPS is based on national rates with an adjustment for differences in local wages that is based upon the Medicare inpatient hospital wage index. Many problems of concern to rural providers have been identified in the hospital wage index, and additional problems may arise if relative wage patterns for hospitals and nursing homes are not the same.