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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Home health care servicesThe 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 » |
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Hospice servicesThe Congress should eliminate the fiscal year 2019 update to the Medicare payment rates for hospice services. |
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Hospital inpatient and outpatient servicesFor 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. |
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Inpatient rehabilitation facility servicesThe Congress should reduce the fiscal year 2019 Medicare payment rate for inpatient rehabilitation facilities by 5 percent. Additionally, the Commission reiterates its March 2016 recommendations on the inpatient rehabilitation facility prospective payment system. |
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Long-term care hospital servicesThe Secretary should eliminate the fiscal year 2019 Medicare payment update for long-term care hospitals. |
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Mandated report: Telehealth services and the Medicare programVote to forward telehealth report to Congress. |
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Moving beyond the Merit-based Incentive Payment SystemThe Congress should: eliminate the current Merit-based Incentive Payment System; and establish a new voluntary value program in fee-for-service Medicare in which: clinicians can elect to be measured as part of a voluntary group; and clinicians in voluntary groups can qualify for a value payment based on their group’s performance on a set of population-based… Read more » |
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Outpatient dialysis servicesFor 2019, the Congress should update the calendar year 2018 Medicare end-stage renal disease prospective payment system base rate by the amount determined under current law. |
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Physician and other health professional servicesFor calendar year 2019, the Congress should increase the calendar year 2018 payment rates for physician and other health professional services by the amount specified in current law. |
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Post-acute care: Increasing the equity of Medicare’s payments within each settingThe Congress should direct the Secretary to begin to base Medicare payments to post-acute care (PAC) providers on a blend of each sector’s setting-specific relative weights and the unified PAC prospective payment system’s relative weights in fiscal year 2019. |
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