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 |
|---|---|---|
Revising payment methods and monitoring quality of care in traditional Medicare (F)The Secretary should establish systems for routinely assessing the quality of post-acute care and should use the information these systems generate to: evaluate the effects of new payment systems on quality of care, focus quality assurance activities, facilitate continuous quality improvement, and promote informed patient decision making. |
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March 2000 |
Revising payment methods and monitoring quality of care in traditional Medicare (G)The Secretary should coordinate systems for monitoring post-acute care quality across all service settings to: assess important aspects of the care uniquely provided in a particular setting, compare certain processes and outcomes of care provided in alternative settings, and evaluate the quality of care furnished in multiple-provider episodes of post-acute care. |
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March 2000 |
Revising payment methods and monitoring quality of care in traditional Medicare (H)The Secretary should sponsor the development of post-acute care quality measures needed to monitor outcomes- such as beneficiary health and functional status- and the appropriate use of services. |
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March 2000 |
Revising payment methods and monitoring quality of care in traditional Medicare (I)The Secretary should review all post-acute care data collection requirements. Each item should have an explicit rationale, and only information needed for accurate billing, risk adjustment, or quality measurement should be required. |
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March 2000 |
Revising payment methods and monitoring quality of care in traditional Medicare (K)The Commission recommends continuing the existing policy of adjusting per case payments through an expanded transfer policy when a short length of stay results from a portion of the patient’s care being provided in another setting. |
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March 2000 |
Access to home health services (A)The Secretary should speed the development of regulations that outline home health care coverage and eligibility criteria based on clinical characteristics of beneficiaries. The Secretary should report to the Congress recommending the legislation needed to accomplish the implementation of these regulations. |
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June 1999 |
Access to home health services (B)The Secretary should use criteria based on clinical characteristics of beneficiaries to monitor use of home health services. |
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June 1999 |
Access to home health services (C)If the Congress is not confident that the Secretary can implement a prospective payment system for home health services by 2000, then it should explore the feasibility of establishing a process for agencies to exclude a small share of their patients from the aggregate per-beneficiary limits. Such a policy should be implemented in a budget-neutral… Read more » |
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June 1999 |
Access to home health services (D)The Secretary should establish a national uniform process to ensure that fiscal intermediaries have the training and ability to provide timely and accurate coverage and payment information to home health agencies. |
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June 1999 |
Access to home health services (E)The Secretary should improve the applicability of the Medicare fee-for-service appeals process for home health users and establish a mechanism for informing beneficiaries about their rights to appeal determinations of noncoverage by home health agencies. |
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June 1999 |