Dialysis centers could get an expected $8.2 billion in Medicare payments next year resulting in a 3.1% increase compared with the year before, according to a new proposed rule.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a proposed rule for the End-Stage Renal Disease Prospective Payment System that details Medicare payments to renal dialysis services. Medicare is expected to pay out $8.2 billion to approximately 7,800 dialysis centers next year, with a base rate of $264.09, which is an increase of $6.19 to the current rate.
Overall, facilities will receive a 3.1% bump, and hospital-based dialysis centers will see a total increase of 3.7% while free-standing facilities will get 3.1%.
The rule also proposes several changes to the quality incentive program for dialysis centers. The agency wants to still collect and publicly report all quality measures even though it will pause the use of certain data when adjusting payments due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
These measures include CMS proposals to pause the standardized hospitalization and readmission ratio clinical measures.
“Although they are not affecting payments, these measures will still be collected and made public,” the agency said.
CMS is also requesting information on how to measure healthcare equity, a major priority for the administration. The agency wants information on goals and approaches for measuring healthcare disparities along with metrics for disparity reporting across quality programs.