Psych comment letter

.. 601 New Jersey Avenue, N.W. • Suite 9000 . . . Washington, DC 20001 . . 202-220-3700 • Fax: 202-220-3759 . . . www.medpac.gov. . . . . . Glenn M. Hackbarth, J.D., Chairman . . . Francis J. Crosson, M.D., Vice Chairman. . Mark E. Miller, Ph.D., Executive Director . . . June 30, 2009 Charlene Frizzera, Acting Administrator Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Department of Health and Human Services 7500 Security Blvd. Baltimore, MD 21244-1850 Re: File code CMS-1495-NC Dear Ms. Frizzera: The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) notice entitled Medicare Program; Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities Prospective Payment System Payment Update for Rate Year Beginning July 1, 2009 (RY 2010); Notice. We appreciate your staff’s work on this prospective payment system (PPS), particularly given the competing demands on the agency. Creation of a market basket for inpatient psychiatric facilities In addition to establishing payment rates for RY 2010, the notice requests comments regarding the creation of a market basket specific to inpatient psychiatric facilities (IPFs) that could be used in place of the rehabilitation, psychiatric, and long-term care hospital (RPL) market basket. The RPL market basket was developed to measure the rate of inflation for the resources used in treating the specific types of patients served by these ...