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 |
|---|---|---|
Hospital inpatient and outpatient services (1)The Secretary should add 13 DRGs to the post-acute transfer policy in fiscal year 2004 and then evaluate the effects on hospitals and beneficiaries before proposing further expansions. |
|
February 2003 |
Skilled nursing facility services (1)The Secretary should continue a series of nationally representative studies on access to skilled nursing facility services (similar to studies previously conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General). |
|
February 2003 |
Skilled nursing facility services (2)The Congress should eliminate the update to payment rates for skilled nursing facility services for fiscal year 2004. |
|
February 2003 |
Skilled nursing facility services (3A)Consistent with previous MedPAC recommendations, the Secretary should develop a new classification system for care in skilled nursing facilities. Because it may take time to develop this system, the Secretary should draw on new and existing research to reallocate payments to achieve a better balance of available resources between the rehabilitation and nonrehabilitation groups. To… Read more » |
|
February 2003 |
Skilled nursing facility services (3B)If necessary action does not occur within a timely manner, the Congress should provide for a market basket update, less an adjustment for productivity growth of 0.9 percent, for hospital-based skilled nursing facilities to be effective October 1, 2003. |
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February 2003 |
Hospice services (1)The Secretary should evaluate hospice payment rates to ensure they are consistent with the costs of providing appropriate care. |
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May 2002 |
Hospice services (2)The Secretary should research differences in the care and resource needs of hospice patients and determine whether a case-mix adjusted payment system for hospice care is feasible. He also should study ways to establish a high-cost outlier policy. |
|
May 2002 |
Home health services (1)The Congress should extend for two years the 10 percent add-on payments for home health services provided in rural areas. |
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March 2002 |
Home health services (2)The Congress should update home health payments by market basket for fiscal year 2003. |
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March 2002 |
Home health services (3)The Congress should eliminate the payment cut for home health services scheduled for October 2002 in current law. |
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March 2002 |