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 |
|---|---|---|
Reforming Medicare’s benefit designThe Congress should direct the Secretary to develop and implement a fee-for-service benefit design that would replace the current design and would include: an out-of-pocket maximum; deductible(s) for Part A and Part B services; replacing coinsurance with copayments that may vary by type of service and provider; secretarial authority to alter or eliminate cost sharing… Read more » |
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June 2012 |
Status report on Part D, with focus on beneficiaries with high drug spendingThe Congress should modify the Part D low-income subsidy copayments for Medicare beneficiaries with incomes at or below 135 percent of poverty to encourage the use of generic drugs when available in selected therapeutic classes. The Congress should direct the Secretary to develop a copay structure, giving special consideration to eliminating the cost sharing for… Read more » |
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March 2012 |
Home health services (4)The Congress should direct the Secretary to establish a per episode copay for home health episodes that are not preceded by hospitalization or post-acute care use. |
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March 2011 |
Reforming Medicare’s hospice benefit (2A)The Congress should direct the Secretary to: * Require that a hospice physician or advanced practice nurse visit the patient to determine continued eligibility prior to the 180th-day recertification and each subsequent recertification and attest that such visits took place, * Require that certifications and recertifications include a brief narrative describing the clinical basis for… Read more » |
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February 2009 |
Increasing participation in the Medicare Savings Programs and the low-income drug subsidy (1)The Secretary should increase the State Health Insurance Assistance Program funding for outreach to low-income Medicare beneficiaries. |
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February 2008 |
Increasing participation in the Medicare Savings Programs and the low-income drug subsidy (2)The Congress should raise Medicare Savings Program income and asset criteria to conform to low-income drug subsidy criteria. |
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February 2008 |
Increasing participation in the Medicare Savings Programs and the low-income drug subsidy (3)The Congress should change program requirements so that the Social Security Administration screens low-income drug subsidy applicants for federal Medicare Savings Program eligibility and enrolls them if they qualify. |
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February 2008 |
Issues in Medicare coverage of drugs (C)The Congress should permit coverage for appropriate preventive vaccines under Medicare Part B instead of Part D. |
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June 2007 |
Producing comparative-effectiveness informationThe Congress should charge an independent entity to sponsor credible research on comparative effectiveness of health care services and disseminate this information to patients, providers, and public and private payers. |
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June 2007 |
Medicare+Choice payment and eligibility policy (B)The Congress should allow all beneficiaries with end-stage renal disease to enroll in private plans. |
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February 2004 |