PUBLIC LAW 101-239—DEC. 19, 1989 103 STAT. 2157 "(ID reduces the wage index for the urban area within which the county or counties is reclassified by more than 1 percentage point (as applied under this subsection), the Secretary shall calculate and apply such wage index under this sul^ection separately to hospitals located in such urban area (excluding all the hospitals so reclassified) and to hospitals located in the counties so reclassified (as if each affected county were a sepa- rate area), "(iii) If the application of subparagraph (B) or a decision of the Medicare Geographic Classification Review Board or the Secretary under paragraph (10), by treating hospitals located in a rural county or counties as not being located in the rural area in a State, reduces the wage index for that rural area (as applied under this subsection), the Secretary shall calculate and apply such wage index under this subsection as if the hospitals so treated had not been excluded from calculation of the wage index for that rural area.". (4) FLOOR FOR AREA WAGE INDICES.— Section 1886(d)(8)(C) of such Act (as amended by paragraph (3)) is further amended by adding at the end the following new clause: "(iv) The application of subparagraph (B) or a decision of the Medicare Ge(^aphic Classification Review Board or the Secretary under paragraph (10) may not result in the reduction of any county s wage index to a level below the wage index for rural areas in the State in which the county is located.. (5) ADDITIONAL PAYMENT RESULTING FROM CORRECTIONS OP 42 USC I395ww ERRONEOUSLY DETERMINED WAGE INDEX. — note. (A) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary of Health and Human Services (hereinafter referred to as the "Secretary") discov- ers an error with respect to the determination, adjustment, or computation of the area wage index described in section 1886(d)(3)(E) of the Social Security Act and subsequently corrects such error, the Secretary shall make an ad(htional payment under title XVm of such Act to a hospital affected by such error for inpatient hospital discharges occurring during the period when the erroneously determined, ad- justed, or computed wage index was in effect. CB) CONDITIONS FOR ADDITIONAL PAYMENT.—A hospital is eligible for an additional payment under subparagraph (A) only if— (i) the error resulted from the submission of erro- neous data, except that a hospital is not eligible for such additional payment if it submitted such erroneous data; / (ii) the error was made with respect to the survey of the 1984 wages and wage-related costs of hospitals in the United States conducted under section 1886(d)(3)(E) of the Social Security Act; and (iii) the correction of the error resulted in an adjust- ment to the area wage index of not less than 3 percent- age points. (CO PERIOD OF APPLICABILITY.— ^A hospital may not receive an additional payment under subparagraph (A) for dis- 4 charges occurring after October 1, 1990. (6) UPDATES TO WAGE INDEX SURVEY.— Section 1886(d)(3)(E) of the Social Security Act (42 US.C. 1395ww(d)(3)(E)) is amended— ^j (A) by striking "October 1, 1990 (and at least every 36 months thereafter)" and inserting "October 1, 1990, and
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