Medicare Wage Index

Publications

Listed by publication date. You can also view these publications alphabetically.

2006

• Primer on the Occupational Mix Adjustment to the Medicare Hospital Wage Index
  Author(s): Kristin Reiter, Rebecca Slifkin, Mark Holmes
  Research center: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
  Topics: Medicare Prospective Payment System (PPS), Medicare Wage Index
  Report Number: Working Paper No. 86
  Date: 09 / 2006
  Focuses on the occupational mix adjustment (OMA) to the labor-related share in the hospital inpatient prospective payment system. The Primer explains what the OMA is, why it is needed and how it has been calculated. In addition, reasons why the effect of the OMA has been less than some rural advocates anticipated are discussed.

2004

• Core Based Statistical Areas And The Medicare Wage Index
  Research center: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
  Topics: Defining rural, Medicare Wage Index
  Report Number: Policy Brief
  Date: 02 / 2004
  Discusses the potential impact of the 2003 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) statistical area standards on the hospital wage index and Medicare payments to rural providers. Additionally, three other possible options for defining labor markets using the 2003 classifications are presented.
• Rural-Urban Issues In The Wage Index Adjustment For Prospective Payment In Skilled Nursing Facilities (Brief Report)
  Author(s): Kathleen Dalton, Rebecca Slifkin
  Research center: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
  Topics: Long term care, Medicare Prospective Payment System (PPS), Medicare Wage Index
  Report Number: Findings Brief
  Date: 01 / 2004
  The hourly wage data collected from Medicare-participating nursing homes were used to examine urban and rural patterns in average hourly nursing home wages and patterns of wage variation within the statewide rural labor markets defined by CMS. The data were also used to examine the adequacy of the hospital wage index as an adjuster for skilled nursing facility rates. Working Paper No. 78 also addresses this topic.

2003

• Rural-Urban Issues In The Wage Index Adjustment For Prospective Payment In Skilled Nursing Facilities (Full Report)
  Author(s): Kathleen Dalton, Rebecca Slifkin
  Research center: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
  Topics: Long term care, Medicare Prospective Payment System (PPS), Medicare Wage Index
  Report Number: Working Paper No. 78
  Date: 11 / 2003
  The hourly wage data collected from Medicare-participating nursing homes were used to examine urban and rural patterns in average hourly nursing home wages and patterns of wage variation within the statewide rural labor markets defined by CMS. The data were also used to examine the adequacy of the hospital wage index as an adjuster for skilled nursing facility rates. A findings brief on this topic is also available.

2001

• PPS Inpatient Payment and the Area Wage Index
  Author(s): Kathleen Dalton, Rebecca T. Slifkin
  Research center: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
  Topics: Hospitals and clinics, Medicare Prospective Payment System (PPS), Medicare Wage Index
  Date: 01 / 2001
  Discusses how inpatient rates are calculated, the role of the wage index, and issues surrounding the wage index and reimbursement to rural hospitals by Medicare under the Prospective Payment System (PPS).
• Rural Hospital Wages and the Area Wage Index: 1990-1997
  Author(s): Kathleen Dalton, Rebecca T. Slifkin, Hilda A. Howard
  Research center: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
  Topics: Hospitals and clinics, Medicare Wage Index
  Date: 01 / 2001
  Examines whether incremental changes to the hospital wage index have made it more equitable across regions and how these changes have impacted rural hospitals.

2000

• Rural Hospital Area Wages and the PPS Wage Index: 1900-1997
  Author(s): Kathleen Dalton, Rebecca Slifkin, Hilda Howard
  Research center: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
  Topics: Medicare Prospective Payment System (PPS), Medicare Wage Index
  Date: 10 / 2000
  
• Area Wage Index of the Medicare Inpatient Hospital Prospective Payment System: Perspectives, Policies, and Choices
  Author(s): Anthony Wellever, Andrew Coburn, Charles Fluharty, J. Patrick Hart, A. Clinton MacKinney, Timothy McBride, Keith Mueller, Rebecca Slifkin
  Research center: Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
  Topics: Health care financing, Legislation and regulation, Medicare Prospective Payment System (PPS), Medicare Wage Index
  Date: 08 / 2000
  This Policy Paper summarizes the positions of various rural health advocates and recording the actions taken by Congress and the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) to improve the wage index. Finally, it outlines the research needed to energize the policy discussion of the uses and methods of calculating the hospital wage index. Report produced by the RUPRI Rural Health Panel.
• Calculating and Using the Area Wage Index of the Medicare Inpatient Hospital Prospective Payment System
  Author(s): Anthony Wellever
  Research center: Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
  Topics: Medicare Prospective Payment System (PPS), Medicare Wage Index
  Date: 06 / 2000
  This policy brief explains how the area wage index is calculated and used, and identifies the major unresolved issues related to its calculation and use. Report produced by the RUPRI Rural Health Panel.

Related Topics

These related topics also list publications:

• Medicare (64 items)