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 |
|---|---|---|
Update on the Medicare Advantage program (5)The Congress should require special needs plans to enroll at least 95 percent of their members from their target population. |
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February 2008 |
Update on the Medicare Advantage program (6)The Congress should eliminate dual-eligible and institutionalized beneficiaries’ ability to enroll in Medicare Advantage plans, except special needs plans with state contracts, outside of open enrollment. They should also continue to be able to disenroll and return to fee-for-service at any time during the year. |
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February 2008 |
Update on the Medicare Advantage program (7)The Congress should extend the authority for special needs plans that meet the conditions specified in Recommendations 3-1 through 3-6 for three years. |
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February 2008 |
An alternative method to compute the wage index (A)The Congress should repeal the existing hospital wage index statute, including reclassifications and exceptions, and give the Secretary authority to establish new wage index systems. |
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June 2007 |
An alternative method to compute the wage index (B)The Secretary should establish a hospital compensation index that: * Uses wage data from all employers and industry-specific occupational weights, * Is adjusted for geographic differences in the ratio of benefits to wages, * Is adjusted at the county level and smooths large differences between counties, and * Is implemented so that large changes in… Read more » |
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June 2007 |
An alternative method to compute the wage index (C)The Secretary should use the hospital compensation index described in recommendation 6B for the home health and skilled nursing facility prospective payment systems and evaluate its use in the other Medicare fee-for-service prospective payment systems. |
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June 2007 |
Issues in Medicare coverage of drugs (A)The Congress should direct CMS to identify selected overlap drugs and direct plans to always cover them under Part D. Identified drugs should be: * Low cost * Covered under Part D most of the time. |
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June 2007 |
Issues in Medicare coverage of drugs (B)The Congress should allow plans to cover a transitional supply of overlap drugs under Part D under the same conditions as the general transition policy applied by CMS. |
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June 2007 |
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 |