MedPAC > Recommendations

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
Hospital short-stay policy issues (4) The Congress should require acute-care hospitals to notify beneficiaries placed in outpatient observation status that their observation status may affect their financial liability for skilled nursing facility care. The notice should be provided to patients in observation status for more than 24 hours and who are expected to need skilled nursing services. The notice should… Read more »	Hospital Post-acute care	June 2015
Hospice services The Congress should eliminate the update to the hospice payment rates for fiscal year 2016.	Post-acute care	March 2015
Inpatient rehabilitation facility services The Congress should eliminate the update to the Medicare payment rates for inpatient rehabilitation facilities in fiscal year 2016.	Post-acute care	March 2015
Long-term care hospital services The Secretary should eliminate the update to the payment rates for long-term care hospitals for fiscal year 2016.	Post-acute care	March 2015
Medicare’s post-acute care: Trends and ways to rationalize payments The Congress should direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to eliminate the differences in payment rates between inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) and skilled nursing facilities for selected conditions. The reductions to IRF payments should be phased in over three years. IRFs should receive relief from regulations specifying the intensity and mix of services… Read more »	Delivery system reforms Post-acute care	March 2015
Home health care services The Congress should direct the Secretary to reduce payments to home health agencies with relatively high risk-adjusted rates of hospital readmission.	Post-acute care Quality	March 2014
Hospice services The Congress should eliminate the update to the hospice payment rates for fiscal year 2015.	Post-acute care	March 2014
Hospital inpatient and outpatient services The Congress should direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: reduce or eliminate differences in payment rates between outpatient departments and physician offices for selected ambulatory payment classifications. set long-term care hospital base payment rates for non-chronically critically ill cases equal to those of acute care hospitals and redistribute the savings to create… Read more »	Ambulatory care settings Hospital Post-acute care	March 2014
Inpatient rehabilitation facility services The Congress should eliminate the update to the Medicare payment rates for inpatient rehabilitation facilities in fiscal year 2015.	Post-acute care	March 2014
Long-term care hospital services The Secretary should eliminate the update to the payment rates for long-term care hospitals for fiscal year 2015.	Post-acute care	March 2014