Earlier this week the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission met in Washington, D.C. to discuss a number of Medicare payment issues.
Among the issues on MedPAC’s November agenda were:
- expansion of telehealth in Medicare
- report on Medicare beneficiaries’ access to care in rural areas
- effects of pharmaceutical rebates on Part D’s risk adjustment
- improving competition among Medicare Part D’s benchmark plans
- separately payable drugs in the hospital outpatient prospective payment system
- Medicare Advantage payment and access for enrollees with end-stage renal disease
MedPAC is an independent congressional agency that advises Congress on issues involving the Medicare program. While its recommendations are not binding on either Congress or the administration, MedPAC is highly influential in governing circles and its recommendations often find their way into legislation, regulations, and new public policy. Because so many patients of private safety-net hospitals are insured by Medicare, MedPAC’s deliberations are especially important to those hospitals.
Go here for links to the policy briefs and presentations that supported MedPAC’s discussion of these issues.
