The Secretary should establish a hospital compensation index that:
* Uses wage data from all employers and industry-specific occupational weights,
* Is adjusted for geographic differences in the ratio of benefits to wages,
* Is adjusted at the county level and smooths large differences between counties, and
* Is implemented so that large changes in wage index values are phased in over a transition period.
An alternative method to compute the wage index (B)
June 15, 2007