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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
Implementing a unified payment system for post-acute care The Congress should direct the Secretary to: implement a prospective payment system for post-acute care beginning in 2021 with a three year transition; lower aggregate payments by 5 percent, absent prior reductions to the level of payments; concurrently, begin to align setting-specific regulatory requirements; and periodically revise and rebase payments, as needed, to keep payments… Read more »	Delivery system reforms Post-acute care	June 2017
Home health care services The Congress should reduce home health payment rates by 5 percent in 2018 and implement a two-year rebasing of the payment system beginning in 2019. The Congress should direct the Secretary to revise the prospective payment system to eliminate the use of the number of therapy visits as a factor in payment determinations, concurrent with… Read more »	Delivery system reforms Post-acute care	March 2017
Hospice services The Congress should eliminate the update to the hospice payment rates for fiscal year 2018.	Post-acute care	March 2017
Inpatient rehabilitation facility services The Congress should reduce the Medicare payment rate for inpatient rehabilitation facilities by 5 percent for fiscal year 2018. Additionally, the Commission reiterates its March 2016 recommendations on the inpatient rehabilitation facility prospective payment system.	Post-acute care	March 2017
Long-term care hospital services The Congress should eliminate the update to the payment rates under the long-term care hospital prospective payment system for fiscal year 2018.	Post-acute care	March 2017
Skilled nursing facility services The Congress should eliminate the market basket updates for 2018 and 2019 and direct the Secretary to revise the prospective payment system (PPS) for skilled nursing facilities. In 2020, the Secretary should report to the Congress on the impacts of the reformed PPS and make any additional adjustments to payments needed to more closely align… Read more »	Delivery system reforms Post-acute care	March 2017
Mandated report: Developing a unified system for post-acute care The Commission has voted to forward to the Congress the report on the unified post-acute care payment system required by the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014.	Post-acute care	June 2016
Home health care services The Congress should direct the Secretary to eliminate the payment update for 2017 and implement a two-year rebasing of the payment system beginning in 2018 for home health care services. The Congress should direct the Secretary to revise the prospective payment system to eliminate the use of therapy visits as a factor in payment determinations,… Read more »	Post-acute care	March 2016
Hospice services The Congress should eliminate the update to the hospice payment rates for fiscal year 2017.	Post-acute care	March 2016
Inpatient rehabilitation facility services (1) The Congress should eliminate the update to the Medicare payment rate for inpatient rehabilitation facilities in fiscal year 2017.	Post-acute care	March 2016