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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
Outpatient dialysis services For calendar year (CY) 2020, the Congress should update the CY 2019 Medicare end-stage renal disease prospective payment system base rate by the amount determined under current law.	Ambulatory care settings	March 2019
Physician and other health professional services For calendar year 2020, the Congress should increase the calendar year 2019 payment rates for physician and other health professional services by the amount specified in current law.	Physicians and other health professionals	March 2019
Skilled nursing facility services (1) The Congress should proceed to revise the skilled nursing facility prospective payment system in fiscal year 2020 and should annually recalibrate the relative weights of the case-mix groups to maintain alignment of payments and costs.	Post-acute care	March 2019
Skilled nursing facility services (2) The Congress should eliminate the fiscal year 2020 update to the Medicare base payment rates for skilled nursing facilities.	Post-acute care	March 2019
Using payment to ensure appropriate access to and use of hospital emergency department services (1) The Congress should: allow isolated rural stand-alone emergency departments (more than 35 miles from another emergency department) to bill standard outpatient prospective payment system facility fees and provide such emergency departments with annual payments to assist with fixed costs.	Hospital Regional issues	June 2018
Using payment to ensure appropriate access to and use of hospital emergency department services (2) The Congress should reduce Type A emergency department rates by 30 percent for off-campus stand-alone emergency departments that are within six miles of an on-campus hospital emergency department.	Hospital Regional issues	June 2018
Ambulatory surgical center services The Congress should eliminate the calendar year 2019 update to the Medicare payment rates for ambulatory surgical centers. The Congress should also require ambulatory surgical centers to submit cost data.	Ambulatory care settings	March 2018
Home health care services The Congress should reduce Medicare payments to home health agencies by 5 percent in calendar year (CY) 2019 and implement a two-year rebasing of the payment system beginning in CY 2020. The Congress should direct the Secretary to revise the prospective payment system to eliminate the use of therapy visits as a factor in payment… Read more »	Delivery system reforms Post-acute care	March 2018
Hospice services The Congress should eliminate the fiscal year 2019 update to the Medicare payment rates for hospice services.	Post-acute care	March 2018
Hospital inpatient and outpatient services For 2019, the Congress should update the 2018 Medicare base payment rates (inpatient and outpatient) for acute care hospitals by the amount determined under current law.	Hospital	March 2018