Members of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission met publicly last week in Washington, D.C.  Their agenda consisted of the following issues:

  • telehealth in Medicare
  • alternative approaches to lowering Medicare payments for selected conditions in inpatient rehabilitation facilities
  • considering approaches for updating the Medicare physician fee schedule
  • assessing consistency between plan-submitted data sources for Medicare Advantage enrollees
  • generic drug pricing under Part D
  • initial findings from analysis of Medicare Part B payment rates and 340B ceiling prices

Go here for a brief overview of each agenda item and links to the staff presentations on those issues.

MedPAC is an independent congressional agency that advises Congress on issues involving Medicare. 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.