Hospitals secured a slightly higher pay bump in the Biden administration's final rule governing outpatient care payments.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) initially proposed a 2.8% payment increase for 2024 as part of its annual Outpatient Prospective Payment System rule, which providers slammed as subpar. In the final rule, the increase is instead set at 3.1%.
The agency said the rate is based on a projected market basket percentage increase of 3.3%, according to a fact sheet issued late Thursday.
In addition to the payment increase, CMS finalized several changes around price transparency for hospitals in the regulation. Under the rule, hospitals will be required to make cost data publicly available in a more standardized manner, which it says will make it easier for third-party developers to use the data and make it simpler for patients to parse.
The data are already required to be made available, but there have been concerns about the usability of the information.
CMS also finalized proposals that would streamline price transparency enforcement, according to a fact sheet on the measures. The agency will reserve the right to communicate directly with hospital leadership should their price transparency performance be insufficient and will post enforcement measures online.
"The final rule strengthens hospital price transparency by improving the standardization of hospital standard charges and enhancing CMS’ enforcement capabilities, thereby better enabling the American people to understand and meaningfully use hospital standard charges for items and services," CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said in a press release.
The rule also finalizes provisions with the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, creating a new benefit category for intensive outpatient services provided to people with behavioral health needs.
The goal, CMS said, is to ensure coverage is available across multiple settings and levels of care to address the growing mental health crisis.
“HHS is committed to expanding access to behavioral healthcare for people with Medicare," Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in the release. "This rule will fill longstanding gaps in behavioral health treatment for Medicare beneficiaries."