The federal government is proposing to give hospitals a 2.8% raise in their Medicare payments next year, which would result in more than $2.7 billion of additional funds for the hospital industry.
That increase would mean the average payment hospitals get for each discharged Medicare patient would rise to $16,143 in 2024, compared with $15,696 for this year, according to federal regulators. Of course, that number varies widely depending on each patient’s condition.
The proposal is in the range of what Wall Street analysts and policy watchers expected for 2024. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) supported a 3.9% increase in its most recent report to Congress. Medicare historically raises proposed rates higher in a final regulation. For example, last year, after hospitals waged an intensive lobbying battle and after accounting for updated inflation data, Medicare agreed to the highest payment hike for hospitals since 1998.
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