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 |
|---|---|---|
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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June 1999 |
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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June 1999 |
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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June 1999 |
Influencing quality in traditional Medicare (D)The Congress should provide HCFA with demonstration authority to test various mechanisms—such as payment incentives, preferred provider designations, or reduced administrative oversight—for rewarding health care organizations and providers that exceed quality and performance goals to counterbalance existing penalties for substandard performance. |
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June 1999 |
Influencing quality in traditional Medicare (E)The Secretary should ensure that the methods and mechanisms used to influence quality under traditional Medicare are consistent with best practices used by private health plans and purchasers. |
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June 1999 |
Influencing quality in traditional Medicare (F)The Secretary should develop and disseminate consumer-oriented information on quality of care to help beneficiaries compare enrollment options and providers. This information should include geographic area-specific information on the quality of care furnished to beneficiaries enrolled in traditional Medicare and provider-specific information on the quality of care furnished by health care facilities and practitioners participating… Read more » |
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June 1999 |
Managed care for frail Medicare beneficiaries: payment methods and program standards (F)The Secretary should include special measures for evaluating and monitoring care for frail Medicare beneficiaries in the Medicare+Choice plan quality measurement and reporting requirements. |
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June 1999 |
Structuring informed beneficiary choice (A)The Congress should allow HCFA more administrative flexibility in meeting its obligations to inform beneficiaries by relaxing legislative requirements pertaining to content of consumer information materials and means of dissemination. |
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June 1999 |
Structuring informed beneficiary choice (B)The Congress should fund HCFA’s education initiatives adequately and directly through the appropriations process rather than through assessing user fees on Medicare+Choice organizations. |
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June 1999 |
Structuring informed beneficiary choice (C)The Secretary should develop and evaluate interactive tools that give beneficiaries a framework for understanding their choices and that help them to process information. |
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June 1999 |