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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
Reviewing the estimated payment update for physician services When preparing the final 2001 update to the physician fee schedule’s conversion factor, the Secretary should review the data and methods used to project growth in enrollment in traditional Medicare and explain the methods used to project that growth.	Physicians and other health professionals	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.	Ambulatory care settings Delivery system reforms	March 2000
Improving payment for end-stage renal disease services (B) The Congress should require HCFA to annually review the composite rate payment.	Ambulatory care settings	March 2000
Improving payment for end-stage renal disease services (C) For fiscal year 2001, the composite rate for outpatient dialysis services should be increased by 2.4 percent.	Ambulatory care settings	March 2000
Improving payment for end-stage renal disease services (D) HCFA should collect information on ESRD patients’ satisfaction with the quality of and access to care.	Ambulatory care settings	March 2000
Improving payment for end-stage renal disease services (E) Once HCFA has implemented a risk-adjusted payment system and a system to monitor and report on the quality of care, the Congress should lift the bar prohibiting patients with ESRD from enrolling in Medicare+Choice.	Ambulatory care settings Part C (Medicare Advantage)	March 2000
Improving payment for end-stage renal disease services (F) ESRD patients who lose Medicare+Choice coverage because their plan leaves the area should be permitted to enroll in another Medicare+Choice plan.	Ambulatory care settings Part C (Medicare Advantage)	March 2000
Medicare beneficiaries’ access to quality health care (A) The Secretary should periodically identify potential problems in beneficiaries’ access to care that arise in the evolving Medicare program and should report annually to the Congress on findings from studies undertaken to examine those potential problems.	Quality	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.	Delivery system reforms Post-acute care	March 2000
Revising payment methods and monitoring quality of care in traditional Medicare (B) The Secretary should vigorously monitor home health agency behavior under the prospective payment system.	Post-acute care	March 2000