CMS' proposed payment rate increases for inpatient psychiatric care in 2025 are inadequate, the American Hospital Association wrote in a letter to the agency.
In April, CMS proposed a 2.7% increase in Medicare payments in the Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Prospective Payment System. CMS estimated facilities will see a 2.6% increase in payments in 2025 relative to 2024, accounting for updated outlier payment thresholds.
In a letter published May 29, Ashley Thompson, senior vice president for policy analysis and development at the AHA, wrote the payment bump is not adequate to cover inflation, including rising costs of labor and supplies.
"[Inpatient psychiatric facilities] and all hospitals have seen a dramatic increase in their costs over the last four years," Ms. Thompson wrote. "The inflation seen by these facilities, particularly those who care for complexly ill patients like those served by IPFs, has created novel challenges such as employee and labor costs."
The AHA also urged CMS to "proceed with more caution and less haste" on the development of a standardized patient assessment instrument. The agency intends to launch a standardized reporting requirement in 2028 — a timeline the AHA argued is too short.
CMS' rollout of standardized reporting instruments in post-acute facilities was rushed, the AHA argued, and it urged the agency to avoid a similar rollout in the psychiatric space.
"The overall process was rushed and has resulted in significant confusion and burden in the post-acute field, and a similar result for the IPF field would be a disservice to patients and providers," Ms. Thompson wrote.
Read the full letter here.