Due to the coronavirus pandemic, MedPAC’s January 2022 public meeting was held virtually via video conference on the GoToWebinar platform.
Agenda
01/13/2022 . 1:00 pm - 1:30 pm
Assessing payment adequacy and updating payments: Hospital inpatient and outpatient services; and Mandated report on Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 changes to the low-volume hospital payment adjustment
Staff Contacts:
ISSUE: By law, each year the Commission reviews Medicare’s fee-for-service payment policies and makes payment update recommendations. For our March 2022 Report to the Congress, we consider whether Medicare payments to hospitals are adequate and how they should be updated in 2023. In 2022, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 requires the Commission also report on the impact of changes to the low-volume hospital (LVH) payment adjustment.
KEY POINTS: We examine beneficiaries’ access to hospital care, quality of care, hospitals’ access to capital, and the relationship between Medicare’s payments and hospitals’ costs. Pursuant to the statutory mandate, we also examine the effect of changes to the LVH payment adjustment.
ACTION: Commissioners will review and vote on a draft update recommendation.
01/13/2022 . 1:30 pm - 2:00 pm
Assessing payment adequacy and updating payments: Physician and other health professional services
Staff Contacts:
ISSUE: By law, each year the Commission reviews Medicare payment policies and makes payment update recommendations. For our March 2022 Report to the Congress, we consider whether Medicare payments to physicians and other health professionals are adequate and how they should be updated in 2023.
KEY POINTS: We examine beneficiaries’ access to clinician care, the quality of care, and Medicare payments and providers’ costs.
ACTION: Commissioners will review the findings and vote on a draft update recommendation for physician and other health professional services and a draft recommendation to require clinicians to use a claims modifier identifying audio-only telehealth services.
01/13/2022 . 2:00 pm - 2:30 pm
Assessing payment adequacy and updating payments: Ambulatory surgical center services; outpatient dialysis services; hospice services
Staff Contacts:
ISSUE: By law, each year the Commission is required to review Medicare payment policies and to make recommendations to the Congress. The Commission examines whether payments for ambulatory surgical center (ASC) services, outpatient dialysis services, and hospice services are adequate and how they should be updated in 2023.
KEY POINTS: Depending on data availability, we evaluate several factors to determine the current adequacy of Medicare payments, including beneficiaries’ access to services, providers’ access to capital, quality of care, and Medicare payments relative to costs.
ACTION: Commissioners will review the findings and vote on the draft recommendations.
01/13/2022 . 2:30 pm - 3:15 pm
Assessing payment adequacy and updating payments: Skilled nursing facility services; home health agency services; inpatient rehabilitation facility services; long-term care hospital services
Staff Contacts:
ISSUE: By law, each year the Commission is required to review Medicare payment policies and to make recommendations to the Congress. The Commission examines whether payments for skilled nursing facility services, home health services, inpatient rehabilitation facility services, and long-term care hospital services are adequate and how they should be updated in 2023.
KEY POINTS: We evaluate several factors to determine the current adequacy of Medicare payments, including beneficiaries’ access to services, providers’ access to capital, quality of care, and Medicare payments relative to costs.
ACTION: Commissioners will review the findings and vote on the draft recommendations.
01/13/2022 . 3:15 pm - 4:30 pm
Mandated report: Designing a value incentive program for post-acute care
Staff Contacts:
ISSUE: The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, requires MedPAC to report on a prototype value-based payment program for all post-acute care (PAC) providers and analyze the impacts of the prototype’s design. The report is due March 15, 2022.
KEY POINTS: Building on the Commission’s past work, the Commission has outlined key design elements of a value-based payment program for PAC providers and modeled a PAC value incentive program (VIP) that includes these elements.
ACTION: Commissioners will review and approve the final report.
01/14/2022 . 10:00 am - 11:30 am
Developing a multi-track population-based payment model with administratively updated benchmarks
Staff Contacts:
ISSUE: In June 2021, the Commission recommended that CMS streamline and harmonize its portfolio of advanced alternative payment models (A-APMs).
KEY POINTS: At recent meetings, commissioners have discussed possible future directions for A-APMs.
ACTION: Commissioners will consider and discuss an illustrative population-based model with multiple tracks featuring varying levels of risk and administratively updated benchmarks.
01/14/2022 . 11:30 am - 1:00 pm
The Medicare Advantage program: Status report and mandated report on dual-eligible special needs plans
Staff Contacts:
ISSUE: Each year, we present findings on the status of the Medicare Advantage (MA) program. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 also requires us to periodically compare the performance of different types of dual-eligible special needs plans (D-SNPs) and other plans that serve beneficiaries who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid.
01/14/2022 . 1:45 pm - 3:15 pm
The Medicare prescription drug program (Part D): Status report
Staff Contacts:
ISSUE: Each year, MedPAC presents the annual status report of the Part D program.
KEY POINTS: Staff will present information about Part D enrollment in 2021, plan offerings for 2022, and trends in indicators of program operations including drug pricing, aggregate spending levels, access, and quality.
ACTION: Commissioners will discuss the scope and substance of the material.