Changes Possible to Area Wage Index

Healthcare Executive;  July 1, 2008 ;     700+ words ......more proposals to revise the hospital wage index. This recommendation could have substantive...directly affected by the adjusted hospital wage index. The recommendation's potential effect...overstated. A 10 percent change in the wage index can affect a facility's payment, ranging...

When every penny counts.(MEDICARE/MEDICAID)

Healthcare Financial Management;  May 1, 2007 ;     700+ words ...The Medicare wage index factor, a cost-of-living differentiator...understand the financial magnitude of the wage index factor, consider this: In many labor...or are transitioning to the PPS, the wage index has a significant impact on a hospital...

Interpretation and treatment of wage index data vary.(Letter to the...

Healthcare Financial Management;  September 1, 2007 ;     326 words ......2007 hfm article Is Your Organization's Wage Index Accurate ? could not have been better...Services (CMS), we continue to propose that wage index reviews be bid out to one national FI...community with a consistent approach to the wage index process. Historically, providers located...

Hospitals to wage war over index.(wage index used for Medicare...

Modern Healthcare;  February 19, 2001 ;     244 words ......local labor costs. The issue is the ``wage index,'' a factor that decreases payments for...number ranging from 0.7236 to 1.5095, the wage index is multiplied by the Medicare prospective...for those cases. But now the current wage index could become a regional battle on several...

The fix is in; CMS plans to correct wage-index error.(The Week in...

Modern Healthcare;  September 1, 2003 ;     578 words ......their workers. When figured into the wage index CMS uses to determine a portion of every...Medicare rates throughout the country. The wage index for a given region is calculated by dividing...hospitals for their unique labor costs, the wage index has for years been a controversial ...

MEDICARE GEOGRAPHIC COST ADJUSTORS:JIM NUSSLE

Congressional Testimony;  July 23, 2002 ;     700+ words ......pronounced examples of the inequities in geographic adjusters are the hospital wage index and the geographic practice cost index (GPCI). Hospital Wage Index The area wage index is a scale used to adjust Medicare inpatient and outpatient payments to...

Hospice Medicare Reimbursement Rates and the New 2006 Wage Index.

M2 Presswire;  November 29, 2005 ;     522 words ......Reimbursement Rates and the New 2006 Wage Index(C)1994-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD RDATE...Reimbursement Rates and the New 2006 Wage Index, Live Audio Conference on CD-ROM to their...expected, the final rule setting the Hospice Wage Index for Fiscal Year 2006 has recently been...

The proposed hospice wage index would be effective Oct. 1, 2007, through...

Healthcare Financial Management;  June 1, 2007 ;     59 words ...The proposed hospice wage index would be effective Oct. 1, 2007...any modifications to the hospice wage index methodology, and is using the most...proposed rule, the FY07 hospital wage index was the most current hospital wage...

Is your organization's wage index accurate? One study reveals that an...

Healthcare Financial Management;  June 1, 2007 ;     700+ words ......hospital's average hourly wage and the wage index for its labor market area can be challenging...and Medicaid Services to calculate the wage index are complex, and it might seem that data...other area hospitals. In some instances, wage index irregularities can even be viewed as...

NEW ORLEANS PUBLIC HEALTH CONDITIONS:A. GARY MULLER

Congressional Testimony;  March 13, 2007 ;     700+ words ......corresponding payment increases: The 2007 wage index update that was effective as of October...between the data being used to develop the wage index and the actual implementation of the wage index that incorporates the data. Under the CMS...

MEDICARE GEOGRAPHIC COST ADJUSTORS:MAX SANDLIN

Congressional Testimony;  July 23, 2002 ;     700+ words ......differences in local wages is known as the wage index. While I support the intent of these...geographic adjusters - and especially of the wage index. It acknowledged that Congress has taken...current MSAs - which determine a hospital`s wage index, according to the July 2001 report...

A fiscal nor'easter? MedPAC index proposal could mean big losses for some...

Modern Healthcare;  July 23, 2007 ;     672 words ......Commission to establish a new hospital wage index system is implemented, according to a...puts all of the ideas (for revamping the wage index) on the table.'' Although the current...would be hit particularly hard by this wage index formula. The role of the wage index ...

Rule change: payday or mayday? Uncertainty looms as hospitals scramble to...

Modern Healthcare;  May 8, 2006 ;     700+ words ......occupational mix adjustment at only 10% to determine what is called the wage index. Currently, the wage index value that a hospital receives is a blend of 10% of a wage index adjusted for occupational mix and 90% of a wage index unadjusted for...

REP. SWEENEY APPLAUDS SENATE ACTION ON WAGE INDEX

US Fed News Service, Including US State News;  October 20, 2006 ;     304 words ......established a one-time special Medicare wage index appeals process. Section 508 allowed...request reclassification of their Medicare wage index, requiring the Medicare program to reimburse...workforce like New York City here. "The wage index problem has cost our hospitals millions...

MEDICARE GEOGRAPHIC COST ADJUSTORS:GLENN M. HACKBARTH, J.D.,

Congressional Testimony;  July 23, 2002 ;     700+ words ......geographic variation in input prices--such as the area wage index in the acute inpatient hospital care PPS or the...payment systems use a version of the hospital wage- index. The hospital wage index Medicare's prospective payment systems for inpatient...