CRANSTON, RI – Seeking to help ensure patients have access to quality health care at state hospitals while supporting a significant source of jobs in Rhode Island, U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and U.S. Representatives James Langevin and David Cicilline today announced that Kent, Newport, South County, and Westerly Hospitals will receive approximately $6.2 million in additional Medicare payments following the renewal of a “wage index” adjustment by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

First implemented in 2012, the CMS Inpatient Hospital Prospective Payment System final rule accounts for different labor costs across the country, and it has been renewed again this year with a $425,000 increase over last year’s $5.75 million adjustment.

“The additional federal funds are a victory for these Rhode Island hospitals, who rely on an even playing field to compile a budget and fairly compensate staff who are providing care to patients,” said Reed, who has been instrumental in the adoption and continuation of this rule.  “I continue to communicate with CMS about how important these adjustments are for our hospitals, and I’m pleased the agency continues to respond to our efforts to ensure Rhode Island’s hospitals are properly reimbursed.”

"Adjusting the wage index so hospitals are fairly reimbursed is a win for both patients and providers,” said Whitehouse, a member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.  “This regulation will allow these hospitals to make important budgeting and hiring decisions for the coming year, but I’ll continue working with CMS on a permanent fix.”

"Our state has excellent hospitals and many talented medical professionals who provide a superior quality of care to Rhode Islanders.  These funds will continue to prevent labor market disparities and ensure that our top-notch health care providers are fairly compensated," said Langevin, who has worked closely with CMS and Rhode Island’s hospitals to support the additional funding.  "The wage index adjustment is so important to providing consistent, high quality care, and I am pleased that CMS continues to be responsive to the needs of local hospitals."

“This federal funding will help guarantee that Rhode Island health care workers are fairly reimbursed for the invaluable care and services they provide,” said Cicilline.  “This adjustment to the wage index will support sustainable jobs in Rhode Island’s health care system and help Rhode Islanders continue to access quality, affordable care across the state.  I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure CMS continues to answer our delegation’s call to establish payment reimbursement parity for Rhode Island hospitals.”

The final regulation, issued today, renews a hospital wage index adjustment for the Newport, Kent, South County, and Westerly Hospitals, which were consistently reimbursed based on a lower wage index than every other hospital in the state.  Due to Rhode Island's size, this resulted in a severe payment disparity among hospitals located in close proximity to each other.  This wage index will help ensure that patients in Kent, Newport, and Washington counties continue to have access to high quality health care services and that these hospitals remain a source of sustainable jobs in the state.

The new wage index is estimated to increase the Medicare reimbursements made to each of these four hospitals by the following amounts:

Newport Hospital is estimated to receive an additional $1,129,808 in Medicare reimbursement in FY14.

Kent Hospital is estimated to receive an additional $2,868,161 in Medicare reimbursement in FY14.

South County Hospital is estimated to receive an additional $1,136,345 in Medicare reimbursement in FY14.

Westerly Hospital is estimated to receive an additional $1,019,963 in Medicare reimbursement in FY14.

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