CMS Updates Medicare Spending Report for Hospitals

According to the legal news website, CMS has made several changes to the Medicare expense report for hospitals, which include non-reimbursed treatment, a Medicare hospital disproportionate share, bad debts, and a medical college degree. JDSupra.

Transmittal 18, which CMS posted on its website on Dec. 29, is likely to have a significant impact on hospital reimbursements for untrained providers. The changes are effective for cost reporting periods beginning October 1, 2022.

Four conclusions:

1. CMS has created another S-10 worksheet. According to the report, Part I aims to collect data on grants for the entire hospital complex, while Part II focuses on collecting data on hospitals only. CMS is considering using Part II data to calculate grants to hospitals in the future.

2. The Agency has adjusted the instructions for recording Medicaid eligible patient days on Worksheet S-2. Hospitals can now report patient days for patients who are considered eligible for Medicaid under a waiver permitted under the Social Security Act.

3. CMS has updated the guidelines for determining direct payments for graduate medical education in Worksheet E-4. According to the report, the guidelines implement the revised DGME payment methodology that CMS adopted in its 2023 inpatient forward payment rule and remove penalties for hospitals that train residents and fellows and operate beyond their full-time equivalent limits.

4. The agency has also added four attachments that hospitals must submit with their expense report, including data for Medicaid eligible days support, Medicare bad debt, total bad debt, and charitable assistance.

Click here for the new expense report and here for the revised instructions.