Nursing Home Reimbursement Changes

This letter provides State Directors of State Units on Aging (SUAs) with information regarding the CMS decision to reduce Medicare skilled nursing facility (SNF) payments by 11.1% for FY 2012 (a reduction of $3.87 billion). The decision is supposed to create more efficiency in the Prospective Payment System (PPS). The memo describes the implications of such a decision coupled with frozen or reduced Medicaid payments to SNFs and Long Term Care Hospitals (LTCHs).