Revisions to the instructions for reporting charity care and uninsured data were recently issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The changes apply to Worksheet S-10 from the Medicare cost report, which is used by CMS to calculate Medicare Disproportionate Share Hospital payments. The Worksheet S-10 revisions clarify that the hospital’s initial charity care obligation may include “discounts given to uninsured patients that meet the hospital's financial assistance policy/uninsured discount policy.”

In addition, CMS released additional information regarding the new due date for submitting prior year S-10 revisions.

Amended cost report data for fiscal years 2014 and 2015 will be considered for revision if received by the hospital’s Medicare Administrative Contractor on or before Oct. 31. While the revisions won’t be used to calculate DSH payments for FY 2018, they will be available in future years if CMS chooses to calculate DSH payments using FY 2014 or 2015 data.