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 |
|---|---|---|
Post-Acute Care Providers: Moving toward Prospective Payment (K)The Congress should establish in law clear eligibility and coverage guidelines for home health services. |
|
March 1999 |
Post-Acute Care Providers: Moving toward Prospective Payment (L)The Secretary should require home health agencies to use consistent, service-specific codes on all patient bills for services provided during home health visits. |
|
March 1999 |
Post-Acute Care Providers: Moving toward Prospective Payment (M)The Congress should require independent assessments of need for beneficiaries receiving extensive home health services to ensure the appropriateness of such care. Beneficiaries receiving 60 or more home health visits should qualify for assessments. Assessors should confer with prescribing physicians to modify care plans as needed. |
|
March 1999 |
Post-Acute Care Providers: Moving toward Prospective Payment (N)The Congress should require modest beneficiary cost-sharing for home health services, subject to an annual limit. Low-income beneficiaries should be exempt from cost-sharing. |
|
March 1999 |
Post-Acute Care Providers: Moving toward Prospective Payment (O)The Secretary should evaluate all relevant case-mix and prospective payment methodologies for their utility in developing a prospective payment system for long-term hospitals. |
|
March 1999 |