The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services late today issued a hospital inpatient and long-term care prospective payment system final rule for fiscal year 2011 that would decrease average inpatient payments by 0.4%. The final rule includes an initial market basket update of 2.35% (which includes the 0.25 percentage point cut mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) for those hospitals that submit data on quality measures; hospitals not submitting data would receive a 0.35% update. However, the rule then makes a 2.9% cut to eliminate the effect of coding or classification changes the agency says do not reflect real changes in case-mix. When coupled with other policy changes, payments will decrease by 0.4% on average in FY 2011 compared to FY 2010. "America's hospitals strongly disagree with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' final inpatient rule," said AHA President and CEO Rich Umbdenstock. "The rule cuts billions of dollars from the health care system at a time when patients are sicker, more people are losing coverage due to the economic downturn and hospitals are dealing with significant changes contained in the health reform bill… America's hospitals will continue to work with Congress to ensure the program remains strong so seniors can access the care they need and deserve."