Skilled Nursing Facility Reimbursement

A skilled nursing facility (SNF) is a nursing home that provides skilled nursing care and rehabilitation services such as physical, speech, and occupational therapy to beneficiaries who need assistance after hospitalization. In October 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented a new payment system for determining Medicare Part A payments to SNFs. Specifically, CMS implemented the Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM), a new case-mix classification system for classifying SNF patients in a Medicare Part A covered stay into payments groups under the SNF Prospective Payment System. Under PDPM, payment is determined by factoring in a combination of six payment components. Five of the components are case-mix adjusted and include a physical therapy component, an occupational therapy component, a speech-language pathology component, a nontherapy ancillary services component, and a nursing component. Additionally, there is a non-case-mix adjusted component to cover utilization of SNF resources that do not vary according to patient characteristics. We will determine whether Medicare payments to SNFs under PDPM complied with Medicare requirements.

Announced or Revised	Agency	Title	Component	Report Number(s)	Expected Issue Date (FY)
Revised	Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services	Skilled Nursing Facility Reimbursement	Office of Audit Services	W-00-21-35784	2024