Nearly 11,000 Skilled Nursing Facilities Receive Medicare Rate Cut Due To Hospital Readmission Rates

On October 1, 2018, 10,976 (72%) of 15,306 skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) received cuts of up to 2% to their Medicare rates for high hospital readmission rates. Another 3,983 SNFs received a rate increase and 347 SNFs neither received a rate increase or decrease. The rates cuts and increases are part of the Medicare value-based purchasing (VBP) program for skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). The VBP measure focuses on improvement in all-cause 30-day hospital readmission rates, based on a baseline established with 2015 claims data and SNF performance during calendar year 2017. The baseline hospital . . .