Last week the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission met in Washington, D.C. to discuss a number of Medicare payment issues.

The issues on MedPAC’s November agenda were:

• MedPAC’s mandated report on long-term care hospitals
• patient functional assessment data used in Medicare payment and quality measurement
• modifying advanced alternative payment model (A-APM) payments
• modifying the Medicare-dependent hospital program
• promoting greater Medicare-Medicaid integration in dual-eligible special-needs plans
• the Medicare Advantage quality bonus program
• Medicare Advantage encounter data

MedPAC is an independent congressional agency that advises Congress on issues involving the Medicare program.  While its recommendations are not binding on either Congress or the administration, MedPAC is highly influential in governing circles and its recommendations often find their way into legislation, regulations, and new public policy.

Go here for links to the policy briefs and presentations that supported MedPAC’s discussion of these issues.…

Last week the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission met in Washington, D.C. to discuss a number of Medicare payment issues.

The issues on MedPAC’s October agenda were:

• managing prescription opioid use in Medicare Part D
• opioids and alternatives in hospital settings: payments, incentives, and Medicare data
• Medicare payment policies for advanced practice registered nurses and physicians
• Medicare’s role in the supply of primary care physicians
• Medicare payments for services provided in inpatient psychiatric facilities
• episode-based payments and outcome measures under a unified payment system for post-acute care
• Medicare policy issues related to non-urgent and emergency care

MedPAC is an independent congressional agency that advises Congress on issues involving the Medicare program.  While its recommendations are not binding on either Congress or the administration, MedPAC is highly influential in governing circles and its recommendations often find their way into legislation, regulations, and new public policy.

Go here for links to the policy briefs and presentations that supported MedPAC’s discussion of these issues.

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The federal government is unlikely to stop with outpatient visits in its drive to make more Medicare payments on a site-neutral basis.

That was the message Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator Seema Verma delivered at a public event last week.

We are taking a look at [site-neutral payments] across the board and looking at our authority and where we can weigh in on it.  But I think the post-acute space is something where there are a lot of differentials in payments and something we’re very interested in exploring.

CMS recently proposed extending its use of site-neutral payments for Medicare-covered outpatient services and the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has recommended that CMS pursue site-neutral payments among the different types of post-acute-care providers.

Learn more about Verma’s remarks and CMS’s intentions in this Fierce Healthcare article.

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The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission met last week in Washington, D.C. to address a number of Medicare reimbursement-related issues.

Among the subjects on MedPAC’s agenda were:

• a unified payment system for post-acute care
• long-term-care hospitals
• physician payments
• next steps in redesigning Medicare’s hospital quality and value programs

While MedPAC’s policy and payment recommendations are not binding on Congress or the administration, its views are respected and influential and often become the basis for new public policy.

Go here to see the policy briefs and presentations offered to help guide MedPAC commissioners’ discussions about these and other issues.…

The House Energy and Commerce Committee has asked the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission to examine the impact of hospital consolidation on patients and federal health care spending.

In a letter signed by Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Greg Walden (R-OR), Health Subcommittee chairman Michael Burgess (R-TX), and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee chairman Gregg Harper (R-MS), the Energy and Commerce Committee states that

We request the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) conduct research examining questions regarding the market trend of hospital consolidation and the degree to which such consolidation increases cost to the Medicare program and beneficiaries, including the costs for prescription drugs.

The eight-page letter outlines the different views the committee has heard on this subject during various hearings, questions whether certain federal policies encourage or facilitate hospital industry consolidation – and whether they should do so – and outlines some of the challenges the committee suspects may arise as a result of industry consolidation.

Go here to see the letter from the House Energy and Commerce Committee to MedPAC asking MedPAC to look into this issue and to respond with its findings within 30 days.

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