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 |
|---|---|---|
Using incentives to improve the quality of care in MedicareThe Secretary should conduct demonstrations to evaluate provider payment differentials and structures that reward and improve quality. |
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June 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 |
Accounting for new technology in hospital prospective payment systems (B)In the outpatient payment system, the Secretary should develop formalized procedures for expeditiously assigning codes, updating relative weights, and investigating the need for service classification changes to recognize the costs of new and substantially improved technologies. |
|
March 2001 |
Accounting for new technology in hospital prospective payment systems (E)For the inpatient payment system, the Secretary should develop formalized procedures for expeditiously assigning codes, updating relative weights, and investigating the need for patient classification changes to recognize the costs of new and substantially improved technologies. |
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March 2001 |
Prospective payment for post-acute care: current issues and long-term agenda (C)The Secretary should develop for potential implementation a patient classification system that predicts costs within and across post-acute settings. |
|
March 2001 |
Prospective payment for post-acute care: current issues and long-term agenda (E)The Secretary should develop a new classification system for skilled nursing facility care while continuing to monitor access and quality. |
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March 2001 |
Assessing the design and impact of the hospital outpatient prospective payment system (A)The Secretary should monitor changes in practice patterns across ambulatory care settings to ensure that differences in payment do not lead to inappropriate shifts in site of care. |
|
June 2000 |
Improving payment for end-stage renal disease services (A)As soon as possible, the Secretary should risk-adjust payments for patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) enrolled in Medicare+Choice. |
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March 2000 |
Revising payment methods and monitoring quality of care in traditional Medicare (A)The Secretary should implement the proposed prospective payment system for home health services on October 1, 2000. To the extent possible, she also should refine the system’s case-mix adjustment before it is implemented. |
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March 2000 |
Revising payment methods and monitoring quality of care in traditional Medicare (C)The Congress should require that HCFA establish a prospective payment system for home health goods and services that blends fixed episode payments and per-visit payments. |
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March 2000 |