AHA Hosts Medicare Inpatient Rule Webinar: April 28 at 10:00 am. – Registration Required

On April 11, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued its hospital inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) and long-term care hospital (LTCH) PPS proposed rule for fiscal year (FY) 2026. The American Hospital Association (AHA) will be hosting a  webinar for staff at AHA member hospitals on Monday,  April 28 at 10 am PST. Attendees can register for the webinar here.

WSHA is preparing a detailed summary of the proposed rule and hospital-specific impact analyses, which will be sent within the next few weeks to hospital chief financial officers and finance staff. CMS will accept comments on the proposed rule through June 10.

Provisions of the proposed rule include:

      • A net 2.4% increase for inpatient PPS payments in FY 2026. This update reflects a hospital market basket increase of 3.2% and a productivity cut of 0.8%.
       • Cessation of the low-wage index hospital policy adopted in FY 2020, where hospitals in wage index regions below the 25th percentile would see an increase funded by wage index reductions elsewhere. In its place, CMW proposes a narrower transitional exception policy for FY 2026.
      • Rebase of the inpatient PPS market basket to reflect a 2023 base year, which will reduce the labor share to 66.0%, 1.6 percentage points lower than the current labor-related share of 67.6%.
        • CMS proposes the removal of quality reporting requirements related to:
                  ◦ COVID-19 vaccination coverage among health care personnel.
                  ◦ Hospital commitment to health equity structural measure.
                  ◦ Screening for social drivers of health.
                  ◦ Screen positive rate for social drivers of health.
    • In addition, CMS has included in the rule its previously published request for information (RFI) seeking input on opportunities to streamline regulations and reduce burdens on providers. 

(Andrew Busz, andrewb@wsha.org)

2025 State Legislative Session Webinar: May 12 at Noon – Registration Required

The WSHA team will provide analysis on the results of the 2025 state legislative session, including impacts to hospitals and health care. Please join us on May 12 at noon. As this webinar is for staff of WSHA member hospitals only, please pre-register here to receive the login information. (Andrew Busz, andrewb@wsha.org) (Amanda Hartzell, amandah@wsha.org)

Legislative Session Reaches Policy Bill Cutoff, Budget Bills Still Being Discussed

Wednesday, April 16 was the final cutoff for all bills to pass the opposite chamber (except for those deemed necessary to implement the budget). For bills that have passed both the House and Senate, the Legislature must now reconcile any differences before a final version is sent to the governor for his signature. For a listing of policy bills, their status, and WSHA position, see our recent Inside Olympia.

WSHA expects the final operating budget to be released by this weekend with the final day of session scheduled for Sunday, April 27.

This week, lawmakers continue to negotiate proposals to address the state’s budget shortfall. Two major tax bills that WSHA is working to mitigate include SB 5814 (new sales taxes on services) and HB 2081 (a new B&O surcharge on high revenue business and a general increase to B&O for certain services). We remain concerned for the hospitals impacted – the taxes and cuts are too large and will result in a reduction of health care services.  (Andrew Busz, andrewb@wsha.org)