News: MedPac recommends 2016 payments increase by 3.2%

Both hospital inpatient and outpatient payments require substantial increases in payments in fiscal year (FY) 2016 to offset an expected negative 9.0% overall margin in FY 2015, the American Hospital Association (AHA) told the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPac) in comments it submitted to the agency recently.

Draft recommendations could increase payments by 3.2% in 2016, an amount that nevertheless falls short of AHA’s hopes.

“[H]ospitals continue to face ongoing cuts mandated by Congress including the documentation and coding cuts set forth in the Affordable Care Act and additional penalties associated with quality reporting and compliance with meaningful use requirements,” the AHA said in its letter to MedPac.