HF 2924

as introduced - 93rd Legislature (2023 - 2024) Posted on 02/12/2024 01:50pm

A bill for an act
relating to health and human services; modifying hospital payment rates; amending
Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 256.969, subdivision 2b.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 256.969, subdivision 2b, is amended to read:

Subd. 2b.

Hospital payment rates.

(a) For discharges occurring on or after November
1, 2014, hospital inpatient services for hospitals located in Minnesota shall be paid according
to the following:

(1) critical access hospitals as defined by Medicare shall be paid using a cost-based
methodology;

(2) long-term hospitals as defined by Medicare shall be paid on a per diem methodology
under subdivision 25;

(3) rehabilitation hospitals or units of hospitals that are recognized as rehabilitation
distinct parts as defined by Medicare shall be paid according to the methodology under
subdivision 12; and

(4) all other hospitals shall be paid on a diagnosis-related group (DRG) methodology.

(b) For the period beginning January 1, 2011, through October 31, 2014, rates shall not
be rebased, except that a Minnesota long-term hospital shall be rebased effective January
1, 2011, based on its most recent Medicare cost report ending on or before September 1,
2008, with the provisions under subdivisions 9 and 23, based on the rates in effect on
December 31, 2010. For rate setting periods after November 1, 2014, in which the base
years are updated, a Minnesota long-term hospital's base year shall remain within the same
period as other hospitals.

(c) Effective for discharges occurring on and after November 1, 2014, payment rates
for hospital inpatient services provided by hospitals located in Minnesota or the local trade
area, except for the hospitals paid under the methodologies described in paragraph (a),
clauses (2) and (3), shall be rebased, incorporating cost and payment methodologies in a
manner similar to Medicare. The base year or years for the rates effective November 1,
2014, shall be calendar year 2012. The rebasing under this paragraph shall be budget neutral,
ensuring that the total aggregate payments under the rebased system are equal to the total
aggregate payments that were made for the same number and types of services in the base
year. Separate budget neutrality calculations shall be determined for payments made to
critical access hospitals and payments made to hospitals paid under the DRG system. Only
the rate increases or decreases under subdivision 3a or 3c that applied to the hospitals being
rebased during the entire base period shall be incorporated into the budget neutrality
calculation.

(d) For discharges occurring on or after November 1, 2014, through the next rebasing
that occurs, the rebased rates under paragraph (c) that apply to hospitals under paragraph
(a), clause (4), shall include adjustments to the projected rates that result in no greater than
a five percent increase or decrease from the base year payments for any hospital. Any
adjustments to the rates made by the commissioner under this paragraph and paragraph (e)
shall maintain budget neutrality as described in paragraph (c).

(e) For discharges occurring on or after November 1, 2014, the commissioner may make
additional adjustments to the rebased rates, and when evaluating whether additional
adjustments should be made, the commissioner shall consider the impact of the rates on the
following:

(1) pediatric services;

(2) behavioral health services;

(3) trauma services as defined by the National Uniform Billing Committee;

(4) transplant services;

(5) obstetric services, newborn services, and behavioral health services provided by
hospitals outside the seven-county metropolitan area;

(6) outlier admissions;

(7) low-volume providers; and

(8) services provided by small rural hospitals that are not critical access hospitals.

(f) Hospital payment rates established under paragraph (c) must incorporate the following:

(1) for hospitals paid under the DRG methodology, the base year payment rate per
admission is standardized by the applicable Medicare wage index and adjusted by the
hospital's disproportionate population adjustment;

(2) for critical access hospitals, payment rates for discharges between November 1, 2014,
and June 30, 2015, shall be set to the same rate of payment that applied for discharges on
October 31, 2014;

(3) the cost and charge data used to establish hospital payment rates must only reflect
inpatient services covered by medical assistance; and

(4) in determining hospital payment rates for discharges occurring on or after the rate
year beginning January 1, 2011, through December 31, 2012, the hospital payment rate per
discharge shall be based on the cost-finding methods and allowable costs of the Medicare
program in effect during the base year or years. In determining hospital payment rates for
discharges in subsequent base years, the per discharge rates shall be based on the cost-finding
methods and allowable costs of the Medicare program in effect during the base year or
years.

(g) The commissioner shall validate the rates effective November 1, 2014, by applying
the rates established under paragraph (c), and any adjustments made to the rates under
paragraph (d) or (e), to hospital claims paid in calendar year 2013 to determine whether the
total aggregate payments for the same number and types of services under the rebased rates
are equal to the total aggregate payments made during calendar year 2013.

(h) Effective for discharges occurring on or after July 1, 2017, and every two years
thereafter, payment rates under this section shall be rebased to reflect only those changes
in hospital costs between the existing base year or years and the next base year or years. In
any year that inpatient claims volume falls below the threshold required to ensure a
statistically valid sample of claims, the commissioner may combine claims data from two
consecutive years to serve as the base year. Years in which inpatient claims volume is
reduced or altered due to a pandemic or other public health emergency shall not be used as
a base year or part of a base year if the base year includes more than one year. Changes in
costs between base years shall be measured using the lower of the hospital cost index defined
in subdivision 1, paragraph (a), or the percentage change in the case mix adjusted cost per
claim. The commissioner shall establish the base year for each rebasing period considering
the most recent year or years for which filed Medicare cost reports are available. The
estimated change in the average payment per hospital discharge resulting from a scheduled
rebasing must be calculated and made available to the legislature by January 15 of each
year in which rebasing is scheduled to occur, and must include by hospital the differential
in payment rates compared to the individual hospital's costs.

(i) Effective for discharges occurring on or after July 1, 2015, inpatient payment rates
for critical access hospitals located in Minnesota or the local trade area shall be determined
using a new cost-based methodology. The commissioner shall establish within the
methodology tiers of payment designed to promote efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
Payment rates for hospitals under this paragraph shall be set at a level that does not exceed
the total cost for critical access hospitals as reflected in base year cost reports. Until the
next rebasing that occurs, the new methodology shall result in no greater than a five percent
decrease from the base year payments for any hospital, except a hospital that had payments
that were greater than 100 percent of the hospital's costs in the base year shall have their
rate set equal to 100 percent of costs in the base year. The rates paid for discharges on and
after July 1, 2016, covered under this paragraph shall be increased by the inflation factor
in subdivision 1, paragraph (a). The new cost-based rate shall be the final rate and shall not
be settled to actual incurred costs. Hospitals shall be assigned a payment tier based on the
following criteria:

(1) hospitals that had payments at or below 80 percent of their costs in the base year
shall have a rate set that equals 85 percent of their base year costs;

(2) hospitals that had payments that were above 80 percent, up to and including 90
percent of their costs in the base year shall have a rate set that equals 95 percent of their
base year costs; and

(3) hospitals that had payments that were above 90 percent of their costs in the base year
shall have a rate set that equals 100 percent of their base year costs.

(j) new text begin Effective for discharges occurring on or after July 1, 2023, payment rates under this
section must be rebased to reflect those changes in hospital costs between the existing base
year or years and the rate year. In any year that inpatient claims volume falls below the
threshold required to ensure a statistically valid sample of claims, the commissioner may
combine claims data from two consecutive years to serve as the base year. Years in which
inpatient claims volume is reduced or altered due to a pandemic or other public health
emergency must not be used as a base year or part of a base year if the base year includes
more than one year. Changes in costs between the base year or years and the rate year must
be measured using the hospital cost index defined in subdivision 1, paragraph (a). The
commissioner must establish the base year for each rebasing period considering the most
recent year or years for which filed Medicare cost reports are available. The estimated
change in the average payment per hospital discharge resulting from a scheduled rebasing
must be calculated and made available to the legislature by January 15 of each year in which
rebasing is scheduled to occur, and must include the differential in payment rates compared
to the individual hospital's costs by hospital.
new text end

new text begin (k) Effective for discharges occurring on or after July 1, 2023, inpatient payment rates
for critical access hospitals located in Minnesota or the local trade area must be a rate equal
to 100 percent of their base year costs inflated to the rate year using the hospital cost index
defined in subdivision 1, paragraph (a).
new text end

new text begin (l) new text end The commissioner may refine the payment tiers and criteria for critical access hospitals
to coincide with the next rebasing under paragraph (h). The factors used to develop the new
methodology may include, but are not limited to:

(1) the ratio between the hospital's costs for treating medical assistance patients and the
hospital's charges to the medical assistance program;

(2) the ratio between the hospital's costs for treating medical assistance patients and the
hospital's payments received from the medical assistance program for the care of medical
assistance patients;

(3) the ratio between the hospital's charges to the medical assistance program and the
hospital's payments received from the medical assistance program for the care of medical
assistance patients;

(4) the statewide average increases in the ratios identified in clauses (1), (2), and (3);

(5) the proportion of that hospital's costs that are administrative and trends in
administrative costs; and

(6) geographic location.