CMS’ Final Inpatient Payment Rule Slightly Worse Than Draft: Analyst

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ final inpatient prospective payment system rule for fiscal 2014 is “slightly worse” for devicemakers than the proposed rule, analysts say. The final rule, set to publish in the Aug. 19 Federal Register, “calls for low- to mid-single-digit payment increases for key medtech [diagnosis-related groups],” says Wells Fargo analyst Larry Biegelsen. The proposed rule had called for mid- to high single-digit percent increases.
Devices & Diagnostics Letter