01-26239. TRICARE Formerly Known as the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS); Fiscal Year 2002 Mental Health Rate Updates

AGENCY:

Office of the Secretary, DoD.

ACTION:

Notice of updated mental health per diem rates.

SUMMARY:

This notice provides for the updating of hospital-specific per diem rates for high volume providers and regional per diem rates for low volume providers; the updated cap per diem for high volume providers; the beneficiary per diem cost-share amount for low volume providers for FY 2002 under the TRICARE Mental Health Per Diem Payment System; and the updated per diem rates for both full-day and half-day TRICARE Partial Hospitalization Programs for fiscal year 2002.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

The fiscal year 2002 rates contained in this notice are effective for services occurring on or after October 1, 2001.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Stan Regensberg, Office of Medical Benefits and Reimbursement Systems, TRICARE Management Activity, 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. For fiscal year 2002, Medicare has recommended a rate of increase of 3.3 percent for hospitals and units excluded from the prospective payment system. TRICARE will adopt this update factor for FY 2002 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 FY 2001 updated by 3.3 percent for FY 2002. Partial hospitalization rates for full day and half day programs will also be updated by 3.3 percent for FY 2002. The cap amount for high volume hospitals and units will also be updated by the 3.3 percent for FY 2002. The beneficiary cost-share for low volume hospitals and units will also be updated by the 3.3 percent for FY 2002.

Consistent with Medicare, the wage portion of the regional rate subject to the area wageadjustment will remain at 71.553 percent for FY 2002. The following reflect an update of 3.3 percent.

Regional Specific Rates for Psychiatric Hospitals and Units With Low Tricare Volume

United States census region	Rate@
Northeast:
New England	$578
Mid-Atlantic	555
Midwest:
East North Central	479
West North Central	452
South:
South Atlantic	572
East South Central	619
West South Central	522
West:
Mountain	521
Pacific	614
@Wage portion of the rate, subject to the area wage adjustment (in percent)	71.553

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 $154 per day or 25 percent of the hospital billed charges effective for services rendered on or after October 1, 2001

Cap Amount: Updated cap amount for hospitals and units with high TRICARE volume is $725 per day for FY 2002.

The following reflect an update of 3.3 percent for FY 2002.

Partial Hospitalization Rates for Full-Day and Half-Day Programs FY 2002

United States census region	Full-day rate (6 hours or more)	Half-day rate (3-5 hours)
Northeast:
New England (ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, CT)	$232	$175
Mid-Atlantic (NY, NJ, PA)	250	188
Midwest:
East North Central (OH, IN, IL, MI, WI)	220	165
West North Central (MN, IA, MO, ND, SD, NE, KS)	220	165
South:
South Atlantic (DE, MD, DC, VA, WV, NC, SC, GA, FL)	239	179
East South Central (KY, TN, AL, MS)	257	193
West South Central (AR, LA, TX, OK)	257	193
West:
Mountain (MT, ID, WY, CO, NM, AZ, UT, NV)	260	195
Pacific (WA, OR, CA, AK, HI)	254	191

The above rates are effective for services rendered on or after October 1, 2001.

Dated: October 12, 2001.

L.M. Bynum,

Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.