CMS to bump inpatient psychiatric Medicare payments: 5 updates to know

CMS will bump inpatient psychiatric payments slightly in 2025. 

The agency published its final rule detailing prospective payments for inpatient psychiatric facilities July 31. 

Here are five key updates to know: 

  1. CMS will increase inpatient payment rates by 2.8%,  a slight increase from the 2.7% CMS proposed in March. 

  2. The agency will reduce rates for outlier payments. Updating the outlier threshold will result in an estimated 0.3% decrease in aggregate payments, the agency said. CMS estimates it will pay inpatient psychiatric facilities $65 million more in 2025 than in 2024, an increase of 2.5%. In March, the agency estimated it would pay facilities $70 million more in 2025 than in 2024. 

  3. CMS will nearly double reimbursement for electroconvulsive therapy treatments. In 2025, the agency will reimburse facilities $661.52 per treatment, up from $385.58 in 2024. 

  4. The agency will shift the wage index to the latest core‑based statistical area designations. For counties that will shift from rural to urban designations, CMS will phase out rural adjustment payments over three years. 

  5. CMS will require facilities to report 30-day, all-cause emergency department visits for patients discharged. The agency will not require facilities to report this metric on a quarterly basis, as it proposed in its March proposed rule. 

Read more here. 

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