NJ Hospitals to Get Fair Share of Medicare Reimbursement

NEWARK — U.S. Senator Bob Menendez informed the CEOs of 16 New Jersey hospitals and health systems that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will continue a New Jersey-specific payment policy — the imputed rural floor – ensuring hospitals in the state receive a fair and equitable Medicare reimbursement for the cost of wages paid to physicians and other health care providers.
“I am pleased that CMS has once again recognized the importance of the New Jersey imputed rural floor policy,” said Sen. Menendez. “By extending this critical provision for another year, 16 hospitals in New Jersey will receive an estimated $56.6 million in additional Medicare wage payments. This will allow our state to continue providing some of the best hospital care available anywhere in the world.”
New Jersey is one of only three states in the nation deemed to be “all urban” under Medicare’s wage payment policy. As such, the state’s hospitals are unable to benefit from Medicare policies that benefit states with rural areas. The imputed rural floor, however, provides equity with rural states and allows our state’s hospitals to effectively compete for the highest quality health care talent available. Currently this policy is set to expire on September 30, 2015, but will now be extended for an additional year to September 30, 2016.
CMS made the announcement about the continuation of the imputed rural floor as part of the proposed rule issued on April 17, 2015, regarding fiscal year 2016 policy and payment changes for the hospital prospective payment systems for acute care hospitals and long-term care hospital prospective payment system. The proposed rule can be found at https://federalregister.gov/a/2015-09245
On March 13, 2015, Senator Menendez led a letter, signed by all 14 members of the New Jersey delegation, to CMS calling for an extension of the imputed rural floor. Menendez has been the key Congressional champion of this policy for several years, providing the state’s hospitals with hundreds of millions in additional Medicare wage payments.
The New Jersey hospitals expected to benefit are:
Cape Regional Medical Center in Cape May Court House: $1,233,940
Capital Health Medical Center in Hopewell: $2,696,964
Cooper University Hospital in Camden: $8,065,578
Hackettstown Regional Medical Center in Hackettstown: $2,899,557
Inspira Medical Center in Elmer: $415,133
Inspira Medical Center in Vineland: $376,143
Inspira Medical Center in Woodbury: $3,034,644
Kennedy University Hospital in Washington Township: $7,846,745
Lourdes Medical Center of Burlington County in Willingboro Township: $1,781,440
Memorial Hospital of Salem County in Salem: $451,483
Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center in Camden: $5,553,714
R.W.J. University Hospital in Hamilton: $3,747,772
St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton: $2,048,352
St. Luke’s Warren Hospital in Phillipsburg: $4,451,562
Virtua in Voorhees: $7,771,980
Virtua Memorial in Mount Holly: $4,265,862