----- Forwarded message from Lemmietta McNeilly <LMcNeilly@...> -----
Date: Mon, 3 Oct 2005 15:55:08 -0400
From: Lemmietta McNeilly <LMcNeilly@...>
Reply-To: Lemmietta McNeilly <LMcNeilly@...>
Subject: Study Finds Medicare Rule Limits Access to Inpatient Rehabilitation
To: ASHA Headlines <asha-headlines@...>

Study Finds Medicare Rule Limits Access to Inpatient Rehabilitation



On Thursday, September 22, 2005, the Federation of American Hospitals

and the American Hospital Association released a report by the Moran

Company that finds full implementation of Medicare's 75% Rule could

significantly affect access to inpatient rehabilitation services.=20



The report entitled "New Estimates of the Impact of Enforcement of the

'75% Rule' on Inpatient Rehabilitation Services Volume," examines the

impact of the Medicare rule which requires that 75% of admissions at

inpatient rehabilitation facilities have one of thirteen qualifying

conditions. The report finds that 30,000 fewer Medicare beneficiaries

received care at inpatient rehabilitation facilities during the first

year of the rule's phase-in period. Currently the percentage of required

admissions stands at 60%, with the rule set to be fully implemented at

the 75% level by 2007. The report also finds that the rule is having a

far greater impact on admissions than originally predicted by the

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The agency had estimated

that approximately 1,200 patients would be affected by the rule's

implementation; however, this study finds that approximately 40,000

patients are being impacted.=20



ASHA, as well as other provider and patient groups are rallying around

legislation, the "Preserving Patient Access to Inpatient Rehabilitation

Hospitals Act," that would halt the implementation of the 75% Rule at

the 50% level, providing an opportunity to better study the rule's

impact. For more information, please contact Mark Kander, ASHA's

Director of Health Care Regulatory Analysis, via e-mail at

mkander@... or by phone at 800-498-2071, ext. 4139.





Lemmietta G. McNeilly, PhD., CCC-SLP, ASHA Fellow

Chief Staff Officer, Speech-Language Pathology

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association

10801 Rockville Pike

Rockville, MD 20852

301/897-0108 Telephone

301/897-7356 Fax

lmcneilly@...





---
You are currently subscribed to asha-headlines e-mail list as:
rrobinson@...
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-asha-headlines-2417V@...

If you need to change your e-mail address or contact the list manager, please
send an e-mail message to LCListAdmin@....
Please include your name and contact information.

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
10801 Rockville Pike
Rockville, MD 20852
Members 1-800-498-2071
Consumers 1-800-638-8255
www.asha.org

----- End forwarded message -----



___________________________________________________________
This mail sent using ToadMail -- Web based e-mail @ ToadNet