Quality
Historically, Medicare’s payment systems rewarded providers for the volume of services they provided to the program’s beneficiaries and were indifferent to the quality of care provided. Gradually, Medicare has begun to orient its payment systems toward paying health care providers in part based on quality. The Commission analyzes data on the quality of the health care that beneficiaries receive and makes recommendations to the Congress and the Secretary of Health and Human Services on the use of information about quality in payment policy provided.