Bundle Rule Out This Summer?

It’s not exactly the blockbuster event many of us are used to during the summer, but it’s possible that the renal community could see the bundle final rule in the next few months.

In the May 14 Renal Watch eNewsletter, National Renal Administrators Association President Larry Emerson wrote the following in regards to the bundle’s possible release:

“Hurry Up and Wait:  It doesn’t appear that the final rule will be out anytime soon.  The latest prediction for release by Prime Policy Group is late June or July.  Our reasoning for believing that it will be later is the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) staff has continued to agree to meet with industry representatives about the proposed bundled payment system and the clearance process has not yet reached the upper levels of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). CMS and HHS would not be accepting meetings if the rule was farther along in the clearance process.”

Hopefully the final rule’s release doesn’t stretch on too much longer. Thousands of dialysis clinics across the United States are going to need the time to digest and adapt to the big changes ahead. Having to cram in a new bundle rule in the last few months of 2010 would no doubt be a daunting task.