MedPAC > Recommendations

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
Long-term care hospital services The Congress should eliminate the update to payment rates for long-term care hospital services for 2007.	Post-acute care	March 2006
Skilled nursing facility services (1) The Congress should eliminate the update to payment rates for skilled nursing facility services for fiscal year 2007.	Post-acute care	March 2006
Skilled nursing facility services (2) The Secretary should modify the PPS for skilled nursing facilities to more accurately capture the cost of providing care to different types of patients. This new system should: * Reflect clinically relevant categories of patients; * More accurately distribute payments for nontherapy ancillary services; * Improve incentives to provide rehabilitation services based on the need… Read more »	Delivery system reforms Post-acute care	March 2006
Skilled nursing facility services (3) To improve quality measurement, the Secretary should: * Collect information on activities of daily living at admission and at discharge; * Develop and use more quality indicators, including process measures, specific to short-stay patients in skilled nursing facilities; and * Put a high priority on developing appropriate quality measures for pay for performance.	Post-acute care Quality	March 2006
Home health services The Congress should eliminate the update to payment rates for home health care services for calendar year 2006.	Post-acute care	March 2005
Skilled nursing facility services (1) The Congress should eliminate the update to payment rates for skilled nursing facility services for fiscal year 2006.	Post-acute care	March 2005
Skilled nursing facility services (2) The Secretary should develop a new classification system for care in skilled nursing facilities. Until this happens, the Congress should authorize the Secretary to: * Remove some or all of the 6.7 percent payment add-on currently applied to the rehabilitation RUG-III groups, and * Reallocate the money to the nonrehabilitation RUG-III groups to achieve a… Read more »	Delivery system reforms Post-acute care	March 2005
Skilled nursing facility services (3) CMS should: * Develop and use more quality indicators specific to short-stay patients in skilled nursing facilities, * Put a high priority on developing appropriate quality measures for pay for performance, and * Collect information on activities of daily living at admission and discharge.	Post-acute care Quality	March 2005
Strategies to improve care: Pay for performance and information technology (C) The Congress should establish a quality incentive payment policy for home health agencies in Medicare.	Delivery system reforms Post-acute care Quality	March 2005
Strategies to improve care: Pay for performance and information technology (D) The Secretary should develop a valid set of measures of home health adverse events, including adequate risk adjustment.	Post-acute care Quality	March 2005