Rehab

GAO says 75% rule saves taxpayers money

Rehab Regs, April 28, 2005

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report last week finding that implementation of Medicare's 75% rule would continue to permit Medicare beneficiaries to be well-served and also save substantial tax dollars, according to a press release from the American Health Care Association (AHCA). The rule phases in clinical criteria to distinguish between those patients who should undergo rehab in skilled nursing facilities and those who would benefit from more extensive rehab in an inpatient rehab facility (IRF), and is currently pending before Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt. CMS has estimated savings to be as high as $370 million. The GAO report also noted that only 6% of IRFs in fiscal year 2003 were able to meet a 75% threshold and that there may be Medicare patients in IRFs who don't need the intensive level of rehabilitation those facilities offer, according to AHCA.

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