On January 14-15, 2010, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) met to discuss and vote on Medicare payment and policy recommendations for its March 2010 report to Congress.
MedPAC has released a summary of the recommendations voted on during that meeting, which include recommendations for home health agencies and hospices.
- Recommendation 1: The Congress should eliminate the market basket update for 2011 and direct the Secretary to rebase rates for home health care services to reflect the average cost of providing care.
- Recommendation 2A: The Congress should direct the Secretary to expeditiously modify the home health payment system to protect beneficiaries from stinting or lower quality of care in response to rebasing. The approaches considered should include risk corridors and blended payments that mix prospective payment with elements of cost-based reimbursement.
- Recommendation 2B: The Secretary should identify categories of patients who are likely to receive the greatest clinical benefit from home health and develop outcomes measures which measure the quality of care for each category of patient.
- Recommendation 3: The Congress should direct the Secretary to review home health agencies that exhibit unusual patterns of claims for payment. The Congress should provide the authority to the Secretary to implement safeguards, such as a moratorium on new providers, preauthorization, or suspension of prompt payment requirements, in areas that appear to be high risk.
A transcript of the January 14-15, 2010 meeting can be found here.
MedPAC is an independent Congressional agency established by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 to advise Congress on issues affecting the Medicare program. MedPAC meets publicly to discuss policy issues and formulate its recommendations to Congress. Two reports, issued in March and June each year, are the primary outlets for MedPAC’s recommendations.
