Final Medicare payments to dialysis facilities to increase by $80 million

Shelby Livingston | October 28, 2016

 Facilities that care for Medicare patients with end-stage renal disease will see their rates rise by 0.73% next year, leading to an extra $80 million in funding, the CMS said late Friday.

That’s higher than the 0.5% payment bump the CMS proposed over the summer.

In a final rule updating policies and payment rates for the ESRD prospective payment system, the CMS also added new quality measures. Further, the CMS said starting in 2017, it will pay for renal dialysis services for patients with an acute kidney injury.

Medicare expects to pay about $9 billion to about 6,000 dialysis providers in 2017 for the costs associated with furnishing chronic maintenance dialysis services.

The final rule also finalized a proposal tied to durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and other supplies. Those suppliers will have to obtain a bid surety bond, approved by the Treasury Department, for $50,000. The proposed rule had the bond set at $100,000.

Source:  Modern Healthcare

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20161028/NEWS/161029892/final-medicare-payments-to-dialysis-facilities-to-increase-by-80