Commission Recommendations
MedPAC makes recommendations to the Congress and to the Secretary of Health and Human Services on issues affecting the administration of the Medicare program. With its recommendations, the Commission strives to improve the delivery of care, while ensuring financial stability and maximizing value for the program. After extensive analysis and evaluation, our recommendations are discussed and voted on by Commissioners in our public meetings. Recommendations are typically published in two main reports, released in March and June of each year.
| Recommendations | Topic(s) | Publication |
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Hospital inpatient and outpatient services (1)For fiscal year 2024, the Congress should update the 2023 Medicare base payment rates for general acute care hospitals by the amount specified in current law plus 1 percent. |
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Hospital inpatient and outpatient services (2)In fiscal year 2024, the Congress should: |
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Physician and other health professional services (1)For calendar year 2024, the Congress should update the 2023 Medicare base payment rate for physician and other health professional services by 50 percent of the projected increase in the Medicare Economic Index. |
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Physician and other health professional services (2)The Congress should enact a non-budget-neutral add-on payment, not subject to beneficiary cost sharing, under the physician fee schedule for services provided to low-income Medicare beneficiaries. These add-on payments should equal a clinician’s allowed charges for these beneficiaries multiplied by: |
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Ambulatory surgical center servicesThe Commission reiterates its March 2022 recommendation that the Secretary require ambulatory surgical centers to report cost data. |
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Outpatient dialysis servicesFor calendar year 2024, the Congress should update the 2023 Medicare end-stage renal disease prospective payment system base rate by the amount determined under current law. |
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Skilled nursing facility servicesFor fiscal year 2024, the Congress should reduce the 2023 Medicare base payment rates for skilled nursing facilities by 3 percent. |
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Home health care servicesFor calendar year 2024, the Congress should reduce the 2023 Medicare base payment rate for home health agencies by 7 percent. |
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Inpatient rehabilitation facility servicesFor fiscal year 2024, the Congress should reduce the 2023 Medicare base payment rate for inpatient rehabilitation facilities by 3 percent. |
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Hospice servicesFor fiscal year 2024, the Congress should update the 2023 Medicare base payment rates for hospice by the amount specified in current law and wage adjust and reduce the hospice aggregate cap by 20 percent. |
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