The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, which advises Congress on Medicare payment issues, met last week in Washington, D.C.

Among the issues on MedPAC’s agenda were:

  • paying for sequential stays in a unified Medicare payment system for post-acute care
  • encouraging Medicare beneficiaries to use higher-quality post-acute care providers
  • using payment policy to ensure appropriate access to and use of hospital emergency department services
  • the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ financial alignment demonstration for dual-eligible beneficiaries
  • the effectiveness of the Medicare hospital readmissions reduction program
  • population-based quality measures such as preventable admissions and home and community days

Go here, to MedPAC’s web site, to see the issue briefs and presentations that supported the discussion of these issues.