Medicare to Make Good on Millions in Back Payments to Hospitals

Hospitals will soon get millions of dollars in Medicare payments that had been withheld by the federal government due to a disputed payment policy that was ultimately struck down in court.

The American Hospital Association estimates that hospitals were shorted some $380 million in Medicare payments in 2019 under the “site neutral” payment policy implemented by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Starting Jan. 1, 2020, Medicare Administrative Contractors will begin reprocessing claims that were paid to hospitals at reduced rates, the CMS said Dec. 12.

The site-neutral policy, which set equal payment rates in 2019 for similar ...