TRICARE; Reimbursement of Long Term Care Hospitals and Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities

This final rule establishes reimbursement rates for Long Term Care Hospitals (LTCHs) and Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs) in accordance with the statutory requirement that TRICARE inpatient care "payments shall be determined to the extent practicable in accordance with the same reimbursement rules as apply to payments to providers of services of the same type under Medicare." This final rule adopts Medicare's reimbursement methodologies for inpatient services provided by LTCHs and IRFs. Each reimbursement methodology will be phased in over a 3-year period. This final rule also removes the definitions for "hospital, long-term (tuberculosis, chronic care, or rehabilitation)" and "long-term hospital care," and creates separate definitions for "Long Term Care Hospital" and "Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility" adopting Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) classification criteria. This final rule also includes authority for a year-end, discretionary General Temporary Military Contingency Payment Adjustment (GTMCPA) for inpatient services in TRICARE network IRFs when deemed essential to meet military contingency requirements.