2021 FINAL RULES SKILLED NURSING
An Analysis and Commentary on Federal Health Care Issues by Larry Goldberg
CMS Releases Final Skilled Nursing Facility FY 2021 PPS Update
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have issued a final rule to update the Medicare skilled nursing facility prospective payment system (SNF) for FY 2021.
The rule includes routine technical rate-setting updates to the payment rates and adopts a revised Office of Management and Budget (OMB) statistical area delineations report. In addition, the rule applies a 5.0 percent cap on wage index decreases from FY 2020 to FY 2021. In response to stakeholder feedback, CMS says it is also finalizing changes to the International Classification of Diseases, Version 10 (ICD-10) code mappings, effective October 1, 2020. Finally, the rule includes minor administrative changes related to the SNF Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program.
The 116-page document is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on August 5. A copy is currently available at:https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2020-16900.pdf. This link will change upon publication.