Medicare program; inpatient routine nursing salary cost differential--Health Care Financing Administration. Interim final rule with comment period.
Because patients age 65 and over are presumed to require more nursing services than the general patient population, the Medicare reimbursement principles currently recognize an inpatient routine nursing salary cost differential for hospitals and skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). This differential is presently set at the rate of 8 1/2 percent. On August 13, 1981, Pub. L. 97-35, the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, amended section 1861(v)(1) of the Social Security Act, by incorporating the nursing salary cost differential for hospitals specifically into the statute and by limiting the rate for hospitals to no more than 5 percent, beginning October 1, 1981. We are amending the Medicare regulations to incorporate the legislative amendment for hospitals.
D007349:Insurance, Health, Reimbursement / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006278:Medicare / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D009739:Nursing Services / Q000191:economics*; D014481:United States