The proposed annual payment rule would update Medicare payment policies for inpatient hospitals, increasing payments by approximately $2.5 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2022. In addition, the rule would make changes to quality reporting programs and includes two requests for information, one focused on moving to digital quality measures and another on promoting health equity. In many areas, the rule seeks to recognize the COVID-19 pandemic by providing flexibility in reporting requirements as well as limiting broad changes to current payment policies. A number of major issues were notably absent from the proposed rule, including enforcement of hospital price transparency requirements. A summary of the major provisions included in the proposed rule is available here. Public comments are due June 28, 2021.
