McKnight's January 14, 2022
Skilled nursing facilities would see a 5% cut in base pay in 2023, while physicians and physical therapists who support them would see their rates continue to be frozen, if Congress were to adopt draft recommendations proposed by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission Thursday.
SNF spending would decline $2 billion next fiscal year, for a total of $10 billion in federal savings over the next five years.
In making the expected recommendation for a 5% SNF cut, MedPac noted that Medicare margins had increased for 2022 to 16.5% without accounting for added federal coronavirus relief. With the relief incorporated, margins hit 19.2%. Panel s]taff said the median margin for SNFs operating “relatively” efficiently was 22.8%.
In their presentation, MedPAC staff...