2010-598. TRICARE, Formerly Known as the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS); Fiscal Year 2010 Mental Health Rate Updates

AGENCY:

Office of the Secretary, DoD.

ACTION:

Notice of Updated Mental Health Rates for Fiscal Year 2010.

SUMMARY:

This notice provides the updated regional per diem rates for low volume mental health providers; the update factor for hospital-specific per-diems; the updated cap per diem for high-volume providers; the beneficiary per-diem cost-share amount for low-volume providers; and the updated per-diem rates for both full-day and half-day TRICARE Partial Hospitalization Programs for Fiscal Year 2010.

DATES:

Effective Date: The Fiscal Year 2010 rates contained in this notice are effective for services on or after October 1, 2009.

ADDRESSES:

TRICARE Management Activity (TMA), Medical Benefits and Reimbursement Branch, 16401 East Centretech Parkway, Aurora, CO 80011-9066.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ann N. Fazzini, Medical Benefits and Reimbursement Branch, TMA, telephone [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The final rule published in the Federal Register on September 6, 1988, (53 FR 34285) set forth reimbursement changes that were effective for all inpatient hospital admissions in psychiatric hospitals and exempt psychiatric units occurring on or after January 1, 1989. The final rule published in the Federal Register on July 1, 1993, (58 FR 35-400) set forth maximum per-diem rates for all partial hospitalization admissions on or after September 29, 1993. Included in these final rules were provisions for updating reimbursement rates for each federal Fiscal Year. As stated in the final rules, each per-diem shall be updated by the Medicare update factor for hospitals and units exempt from the Medicare Prospective Payment System (i.e., this is the same update factor used for the inpatient prospective payment system). For Fiscal Year 2010, Medicare has recommended a rate of increase of 2.1 percent. TRICARE will adopt this update factor for Fiscal Year 2010 as the final update factor. Hospitals and units with hospital specific rates (hospitals and units with high TRICARE volume) and regional-specific rates for psychiatric hospitals and units with low TRICARE volume will have their TRICARE rates for Fiscal Year 2010 updated by 2.1 percent.

Partial hospitalization rates for full-day and half-day programs will also be updated by 2.1 percent for Fiscal Year 2010.

The cap amount for high-volume hospitals and units will also be updated by 2.1 percent for Fiscal Year 2010.

The Standard non-active duty family member cost share for low volume hospitals and units will also be updated by 2.1 percent for Fiscal Year 2010.

Per 32 CFR 199.14, the same area wage indexes used for the CHAMPUS Diagnosis-Related Group (DRG)-based payment system shall be applied to the wage portion of the applicable regional per diem for each day of the admission. The wage portion shall be the same as that used for the CHAMPUS DRG-based payment system. For wage index values greater than 1.0, the wage portion of the regional rate subject to the area wage adjustment is 68.8 percent for Fiscal Year 2010. For wage index values less than or equal to 1.0, the wage portion of the regional rate subject to the area wage adjustment is 62 percent.

Additionally, 32 CFR 199.14, requires that hospital specific and regional per diems shall be updated by the Medicare update factor for hospitals and units exempt from the Medicare Prospective Payment System.

The following reflect an update of 2.1 percent for Fiscal Year 2010.

Regional Specific Rates for Psychiatric Hospitals and Units With Low TRICARE Volume for Fiscal Year 2010

United States census region	Regional rate
Northeast:
New England	$745
Mid-Atlantic	718
Midwest:
East North Central	620
West North Central	585
South:
South Atlantic	738
East South Central	790
West South Central	673
West:
Mountain	672
Pacific	794
Puerto Rico	506

Beneficiary cost share: Beneficiary cost-share (other than dependents of active duty members) for care paid on the basis of a regional per diem rate is the lower of $197 per day or 25 percent of the hospital billed charges effective for services rendered on or after October 1, 2009. Cap Amount: Updated cap amount for hospitals and units with high TRICARE volume is $936 per day for services on or after October 1, 2009.

The following reflect an update of 2.1 percent for Fiscal Year 2010 for the partial hospitalization rates.

Partial Hospitalization Rates for Full-Day and Half-Day Programs

[Fiscal year 2010]

United States census region	Full-day rate (6 hours or more)	Half-day rate (3-5 hours)
Northeast:
New England (Maine, N.H., Vt., Mass., R.I., Conn.)	$299	$222
Mid-Atlantic:
(N.Y., N.J., Penn.)	325	244
Midwest:
East North Central (Ohio, Ind., Ill., Mich., Wis.)	286	213
West North Central:
(Minn., Iowa, Mo., N.D., S.D., Neb., Kan.)	286	213
South:
South Atlantic (Del., Md., DC, Va., W.Va., N.C., S.C., Ga., Fla.)	307	231
East South Central:
(Ky., Tenn., Ala., Miss.)	332	250
West South Central:
(Ark., La., Texas, Okla.)	332	250
West:
Mountain (Mon., Idaho, Wyo., Col., N.M., Ariz., Utah, Nev.)	335	253
Pacific (Wash., Ore., Calif., Alaska, Hawaii)	329	246
Puerto Rico	213	161

The above rates are effective for services rendered on or after October 1, 2009.

Dated: December 18, 2009.

Patricia Toppings,

OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.