On October 27, 2014, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) made a concession—a very small one—to hospitals racing against the looming October 31, 2014, deadline for accepting the offer of 68 cents on the dollar to resolve inpatient claim denials arising from the hated two-midnight rule—the rule denying a hospital inpatient rates unless a doctor has documented at the time of admission that the patient needed to stay over the span of two midnights.

The rule, enforced by Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs) working on a contingency basis, has resulted in a mountainous backlog of appeals. The number stood at half a million as of last February. So in August, CMS offered hospitals 68 cents on the dollar to resolve their appeals. Since then, CMS has been gradually adding details—and changes—to the offer. 

The last change appeared on the CMS website October 27, 2014. It provides hospitals with a way to get in under the October 31, 2014, wire even though they're not yet certain which claims to resolve. Under the new provision, a hospital can submit a request for a "Potential List" of eligible claims. CMS will accept that request as a timely indication of an intention to participate in the settlement process and will send the hospital the requested list. Then, after the hospital receives and reviews the potential list, it can submit a completed list, along with a signed Administrative Agreement, and go through the process announced in August 2014.

But CMS did not announce a change in the date of the deadline—only this new method of meeting it. The deadline is still October 31, 2014—at least as of now.