In July 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposed a mandatory End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Treatment Choices (ETC) Model that aimed to increase the use of home dialysis by beneficiaries with ESRD, and increase kidney transplantation among adult ESRD beneficiaries (“Medicare Program: Specialty Care Models to Improve Quality of Care and Reduce Expenditures,” Federal… Read more »
News
MedPAC announces public meeting schedule for the remainder of the 2020-2021 cycle
The Commission is excited to announce its public meeting schedule for the remainder of the 2020-2021 cycle.
November 9-10, 2020
December 3-4, 2020
January 14-15, 2021
March 4-5, 2021
April 1-2, 2021
Meeting agendas will be available a few days in advance of each meeting.
Update: MedPAC’s evaluation of Medicare’s Hospital Readmission Reduction Program
In the 21st Century Cures Act of 2016, Congress mandated that MedPAC examine the effects of Medicare’s Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP). Created by Congress in 2010, the HRRP penalizes hospitals with high rates of readmission for a selected set of conditions (pneumonia, acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure, hip and knee replacement, chronic obstructive… Read more »
MedPAC announces public meeting schedule for 2019-2020 cycle
The Commission is excited to announce its public meeting schedule for the upcoming 2019-2020 cycle! September 5-6, 2019October 3-4, 2019November 7-8, 2019December 5-6, 2019January 16-17, 2020March 5-6, 2020April 2-3, 2020 Meeting agendas will be available a few days in advance of each meeting. All meetings will occur at: The Ronald Reagan Building, International Trade CenterHorizon… Read more »
The Hospital Value Incentive Program: Measuring and rewarding meaningful hospital quality
In January 2019, the Commission recommended the Congress replace the four current hospital quality payment programs with a single alternative program—the Hospital Value Incentive Program (HVIP). The HVIP encourages the delivery of better-quality hospital care for beneficiaries, catalyzes change in the delivery system, considers differences in providers’ patient populations, and reduces provider burden.
Improving Medicare’s payment for Part B drugs: Requiring pharmaceutical manufacturer reporting of sales price data
In 2017, MedPAC recommended a policy that requires all Part B drug manufacturers to report ASP data and gives the Secretary the authority to apply penalties to manufacturers who do not report required data. This policy would improve the accuracy of Medicare’s payments and protect beneficiaries and taxpayers from paying higher prices.
Improving Medicare’s payment policies for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses and Physician Assistants
The Commission recommends Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) and Physician Assistants (PAs) bill Medicare directly, eliminating “incident to” billing for their services.
The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program has succeeded for beneficiaries and the Medicare program
The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) contributed to declines in readmissions but has not caused material increases in outpatient observation stays or emergency department visits, nor has the HRRP had a net adverse effect on mortality.
Geographic Variation in Medicare Spending and Service Use
Today, MedPAC released a report on regional variation in both spending and service use under Medicare, updating a previous analysis from 2011. There is little evidence that higher service use results in higher quality. Moreover, it is likely that health care service use and spending could be substantially reduced without harming quality if service-use patterns of high-use areas were brought into line with those of lower-use areas.
Why have Medicare costs grown so much slower than the costs of employer-sponsored insurance?
In Medicare, the prices paid to providers are set by law. In contrast, commercial insurers usually negotiate prices with providers. As we discuss below, prices negotiated by commercial insurers vary wildly across providers and insurers, and prices have grown faster for providers with more market power.