The Medicare payment system for SNFs has become increasingly broken, a report states.

Reimbursement cuts are less than three months away for nursing homes that fail to submit required quality data, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services emphasized to providers in a new memo.

The agency reminded providers of revisions to the Medicare Quality Reporting Incentive Programs Manual detailing payment reductions in an MLN Matters article published Monday. Penalties will begin Oct. 1 — the start of fiscal 2018 — for skilled nursing facilities that don’t submit quality data.

Operators that fail to report will face a 2% reduction to their payment rate for each fiscal year; the reporting-based cuts will not be cumulative, CMS said. The pay cuts were announced in 2015 as part of CMS’ FY 2016 final rule for skilled nursing facilities.

Providers that aren’t compliant with the reporting rule will be notified by their Medicare Administrative Contractor. They will also be able to submit letters requesting reconsideration if they disagree and feel they were in compliance with the reporting regulations, according to CMS’ revisions.  

The revisions to the Medicare Quality Reporting Incentive Programs Manual will become effective on Aug. 14, according to the MLN Matters memo.