Chuck Schumer said the CMS’s recently proposed rule change may boost Upstate New York hospital wages by over $1 billion per year.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Schumer claims that Upstate New York hospitals have been underfunded relative to the rest of the country for many years, but that changing this rule will bring in an additional $967 million in federal funds.
New Regulation Under Medicare’s Wages Payment System
Hospital systems across Upstate New York have received less federal funding than the national average for years, but Schumer said that the CMS’s FY2024 Hospital Inpatient PPS Proposed Rule would amend the Medicare formula to include more than $967 million in increased federal funding.
Schumer elaborated that the amount the federal government reimburses hospitals for labor costs incurred while treating Medicare patients is based on the Medicare Wage Index rate.
By increasing the Capital Region’s adjustment to 122 percent of what the average hospital receives in wage adjustments, the proposed rule for the FY24 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) would bring hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding to hospitals in the Capital Region every year.
With the proposed rule change, hospitals in the Capital Region might see an increase in Medicare wage index payments of approximately $192,838,921.
Read more: State Attorneys General urge Medicare to lift restrictions on Alzheimer’s treatments
Annual Breakdown
Hospitals in the National Capital Area: Anticipated Increase in Medicare Wage Index Payments
Total for the Capital Area: $192,838,921
- The Hospital at Albany Medical Center: $84 747 834
- 1Hospital of St. Peter: $60,934,457
- $30,696,757 for Ellis Medicine
- Medical Center at Columbia University $8,228.068
- Hospital in Glens Falls: $3,003,082
- $2,756,504 for the Saratoga Hospital
- $2,209,044 for the Samaritan Medical Center
- Hospital for Rehabilitation at Sunnyview: $263,175