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) | Date |
|---|---|---|
Reducing beneficiary cost sharing for outpatient services at critical access hospitalsFor fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries, the Congress should: |
|
June 2025 |
Reforming physician fee schedule updates and improving the accuracy of relative payment rates (2)The Congress should direct the Secretary to improve the accuracy of Medicare’s relative payment rates forclinician services by collecting and using timely data that reflect the costs of delivering care. |
|
June 2025 |
Reforming physician fee schedule updates and improving the accuracy of relative payment rates (1)The Congress should replace the current–law updates to the physician fee schedule with an annualupdate based on a portion of the growth in the Medicare Economic Index (MEI) (such as MEI minus1 percentage point). |
|
June 2025 |
Eliminating Medicare’s coverage limits on stays in freestanding inpatient psychiatric facilitiesThe Congress should eliminate both: |
|
March 2025 |
Hospice servicesFor fiscal year 2026, the Congress should eliminate the update to the 2025 Medicarebase payment rates for hospice. |
|
March 2025 |
Inpatient rehabilitation servicesFor fiscal year 2026, the Congress should reduce the 2025 Medicare base paymentrate for inpatient rehabilitation facilities by 7 percent. |
|
March 2025 |
Home health care servicesFor calendar year 2026, the Congress should reduce the 2025 Medicare basepayment rate for home health agencies by 7 percent. |
|
March 2025 |
Skilled nursing facility servicesFor fiscal year 2026, the Congress should reduce the 2025 Medicare base paymentrates for skilled nursing facilities by 3 percent. |
|
March 2025 |
Outpatient dialysis servicesFor calendar year 2026, the Congress should update the 2025 Medicare basepayment rate for outpatient dialysis services by the amount determined undercurrent law. |
|
March 2025 |
Physician and other health professional servicesThe Congress should: |
|
March 2025 |