New CMS payment system not as bad as expected

CMS will phase its new Medicare cost-weighting system in over three years, rather than trying to do it all in 2007 as previously planned. The final regulations, released yesterday, also won't slash payments as deeply as feared when CMS released its initial proposal in April. Only 2 percent of hospitals will have their payments drop, and those drops aren't related to the new rules, says today's story in The Wall Street Journal. Overall CMS payments to hospitals will increase 3.5 percent in fiscal year 2007. Cardiac implant companies are wiping their brows with relief, says The Boston Globe. Proposed double-digit decreases in stent and defibrillator reimbursements have been modified. Stent procedure reimbursement will drop only 14 percent, rather than 33 percent, and defibrillator payments will actually go up slightly.

Get the latest on the proposed regs:
- read this article in The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)
- get additional coverage from The Boston Globe