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CHA DataSuite has provided member hospitals and health systems with reports on Medicare hospital wage index and occupational mix data analysis. The analyses
are intended to provide a comparative review of the data that will be used to develop the federal fiscal year (FFY) 2021 Medicare hospital wage index. Hospitals are urged to review these data and submit requests for corrections to both the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and their Medicare administrative contractor (MAC) by May 29.
- Correct errors due to CMS or MAC mishandling of the “final” wage data posted in the April 30, 2020 public use files (PUF).
- Dispute data corrections made by CMS of which the hospital has been notified between March 20, 2020, and May 15, 2020, that do not arise from a hospital’s request for revisions.
The data analyzed are “final” and are the last of three wage data PUFs that CMS will issue to develop the hospital wage index for FFY 2021. Because the data are subject to revision, the analysis is not intended to be used to calculate hospital wage indexes, but rather to allow hospitals an opportunity to review the most recent wage and occupational mix data published by CMS.
Data corrections made by CMS of which the hospital has been notified on or after May 16, 2020, may be appealed to the Provider Reimbursement Review Board.
Changes to the data will be limited to situations involving errors by CMS or the MAC that the hospital could not have known about before review of the “final” April PUFs. Data that were incorrect in the preliminary or revised wage index data PUFs, but for which no correction requests were received by the Feb. 14, 2020, deadline, will not be changed at this stage for inclusion in the wage index.
More information is available in the hospital wage index and occupational mix data analysis descriptions.
