Skilled Nursing News June 21, 2021
The value-based purchasing (VBP) program for skilled nursing facilities was implemented in 2018 as part of the 2014 Protecting Access to Medicare Act – and three years later, the program is showing “fundamental design flaws” so significant that eliminating and replacing it is the only option.
That’s according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s (MedPAC) mandated evaluation of the SNF VBP program, which uses hospital readmissions to assess the quality of care provided by SNFs to Medicare fee–for-service (FFS) beneficiaries. Under the program, SNFs receive either a reward, a penalty, or no change in payment based on their performance on the measure.
The program is funded by a 2% reduction to FFS payments each year, with Medicare retaining a part...