To view PDF files, click on yellow button to download Acrobat Reader. Some argue that the pricing system still contains incentives that discourage optimal drug therapy. These pharmacists also point out that SNFs but not necessarily pharmacists will receive higher payments for taking care of certain high-cost patients. Nevertheless, the new rules seem to be a positive first step in refining the system.
RUGs reflect differences in the amount and kind of services that patients require.
Cases categorized in the more service-intensive groupings receive higher per diem payments. This latest proposal, which appeared April 10 in the Federal Register , fulfills HCFA's legal obligation to annually update SNF payment rates. The proposal also complies with provisions of the 1999 Balanced Budget Refinement Act, which ordered a temporary 20 percent rate increase for certain RUGs until HCFA could produce a more equitable case-mix system. This brings the total number of groupings to 178. The agency expects to publish the rule in final form this summer.