On June 9, 2003, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS") of the Department of Health and Human Services published a final rule (the "Final Rule") revising Medicare policies governing "outlier" payments to general acute care hospitals reimbursed under the inpatient prospective payment system ("IPPS") and to long-term care hospitals ("LTCHs") reimbursed under the long-term care hospital prospective payment system ("LTCH PPS"). 68 Fed. Reg. 34,494. The Final Rule represents CMS’ most recent response to the well-publicized allegations that some general acute care hospitals rapidly increased their charges in an effort to artificially increase their Medicare outlier reimbursement, and will likely result in significantly decreased future outlier reimbursement for some hospitals.