Developing input-price indexes for all health care settings

To implement an occupation-mix adjusted wage index in fiscal year 2005, the Secretary should collect data on wage rates by occupation in the fiscal year 2002 Medicare cost reports. Hospital-specific wage rates for each occupation should be supplemented by data on the mix of occupations for each provider type. The Secretary also should continue to improve the accuracy of the wage index by investigating the differences in wages across areas for each type of provider and in the substitution of one occupation for another.