On Sept. 30, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the FFY 2025 IPPS Interim Final Rule with comment period (IFC) , marking a significant shift in how hospitals manage their wage index challenges. Designed to address disparities between low and high wage index hospitals, the rule modifies the federal fiscal year (FFY) 2025 hospital inpatient prospective payment system (PPS) low wage index policy. This blog post will explore the IFC and its implications for the healthcare industry. In addition, we'll provide insights on the IPPS analysis based on the final rule — so you can best navigate these changes with the most up-to-date adoptions. Key changes in the FFY 2025 IPPS Interim Final Rule The FFY 2025 IPPS IFC brings several critical changes to the existing structure of hospital reimbursements under Medicare. Initially implemented in FFY 2020, the low wage index policy aimed to adjust hospital reimbursements to bridge the gap between high and low wage in