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.
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Improving care at the end of life (B)Support research on care at the end of life, and work with nongovernmental organizations as they (1) educate the health care profession and the public about care at the end of life, and (2) develop measures to accredit health care organizations and provide public accountability for the quality of end-of-life care. |
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Improving care at the end of life (C)Sponsor projects to develop and test measures of the quality of end-of-life care for Medicare beneficiaries, and enlist quality improvement organizations and Medicare+Choice plans to implement quality improvement programs for care at the end of life. |
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Improving care at the end of life (D)Promote advance care planning by practitioners and patients well before terminal health crises occur. |
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Improving the quality of care for beneficiaries with end-stage renal disease (A)The Secretary should determine clinical criteria for dialysis patients to receive increased frequency or duration of dialysis. The Secretary should then examine the feasibility of a multitiered composite rate that would allow different payments based on the frequency and duration of dialysis prescribed, as well as other factors related to adequacy of dialysis. |
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Improving the quality of care for beneficiaries with end-stage renal disease (B)MedPAC reiterates the recommendation made in its March 1998 and March 1999 reports calling for an increase in the composite rate. |
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Improving the quality of care for beneficiaries with end-stage renal disease (C)The Secretary should determine clinical criteria for ESRD patients to be eligible for oral, enteral, or parenteral nutritional supplements. Coverage for these supplements should then be provided to eligible ESRD patients as a renal benefit apart from the composite rate. |
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Improving the quality of care for beneficiaries with end-stage renal disease (D)In fulfilling the requirements of the BBA regarding improving the quality of dialysis care, the Secretary should take into consideration the quality assessment and assurance efforts of renal organizations. |
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Influencing quality in traditional Medicare (A)The Secretary should define and prioritize program-wide goals for improving Medicare beneficiaries’ care. Examples of such goals might include minimizing preventable errors in health care delivery or increasing patients’ participation in their care. These goals should be periodically identified and reassessed through a formal, public process involving all stakeholders. |
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Influencing quality in traditional Medicare (B)The Secretary should ensure that systems for monitoring, safeguarding, and improving the quality of Medicare beneficiaries’ care are, to the extent possible, comparable under traditional Medicare and Medicare+Choice and that the systems are coordinated with each other as needed to maximize opportunities to reach quality improvement goals. |
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Influencing quality in traditional Medicare (C)The Secretary should ensure that Medicare works with other interested parties to promote the development and use of common, core sets of quality measures that represent the full spectrum of care obtained by beneficiaries. |
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