Medicare has more than 20 distinct systems for paying health care providers who serve Medicare beneficiaries. Even we’d admit that it’s a lot to keep up with. MedPAC’s Payment Basics series can help.
News
Explainer: Risk sharing mechanisms in Part D
At MedPAC’s public meeting last week, the Commission discussed how Medicare shares financial risk with Part D prescription drug plans.
Medicare Spending: Making Sense of the Growth Rates
If you missed the Commission meeting last week, you might have missed this piece of analysis of the spending growth trends in Medicare.
Do new Medicare beneficiaries choose Medicare Advantage right away?
If you missed the Commission meeting last week, you might have missed this piece of analysis. In 2012, about 28% of all Medicare beneficiaries (who have Part A and Part B) were enrolled in private Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. Recently, there has been a widely reported claim in the policy community that half of all new Medicare beneficiaries are now joining MA. The story sort of works like this: in 2012, the total number of beneficiaries in Medicare grew by two million, while the number of beneficiaries in MA grew by 1 million. These facts are true, but despite how it might sound, this does not mean that half of all new beneficiaries chose MA.
MedPAC on Accountable Care Organizations
This week at our September public meeting, the Commission will discuss the latest information available on Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) in Medicare. In the meantime, here is some background about the Commission’s work on the issue to date.
MedPAC Meetings: A Primer
Next week, MedPAC kicks off its 2014-2015 year of public meetings. The agenda will be posted later today, but if you are new to the Commission, or a casual follower, you might wonder how the process works. Here’s a quick primer on MedPAC meetings.
Welcome to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission blog!
The MedPAC blog will be a mechanism for sharing information about MedPAC’s work and activities in a quicker, less formal, and more wired format than our traditional reports to Congress. The blog – written by MedPAC staff – is intended to be a resource for Congressional staff and other consumers of our work and will complement our public meetings and formal publications.
MedPAC is reforming its delivery system!
With the start of a new season of Commission meetings upon us, MedPAC is proud to unveil a whole new set of ways to connect with the Commission and its work.
New data book on beneficiaries dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid
Today, MedPAC and the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) jointly released a data book: Beneficiaries Dually Eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. This is the second edition of this book, updated with 2010 data and new displays of 2007-2010 trends in the dually eligible population’s composition, service use, and spending.