News: AHA criticizes MedPAC 2026 payment update proposals
Leading up to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s (MedPAC) vote on 2026 payment updates, the American Hospital Association (AHA) issued a response criticizing the proposals, according to JustCoding.
The proposed updates called for Congress to include a 1% increase to the current Medicare payment rates for hospital inpatient and outpatient services.
Additionally, MedPAC recommended that Congress decrease base payments for physicians and other health professional services by the projected increase in the Medicare Economic Index by 1%, reduce the payment rate for inpatient rehabilitation facilities by 7%, the home health agencies by 7%, and skilled nursing facilities by 3%.
In response, the AHA issued the following criticisms:
- Hospital payment update recommendations: “An update above current law is necessary given the combination of providers’ continued financial pressures, and almost two decades of sustained and substantial negative Medicare margins. Simply put, even after the recommended payment update, Medicare’s payments to hospitals would remain inadequate.”
- Post-acute care payment update recommendations: In its statement, the AHA argued that inpatient rehabilitation facilities, skilled nursing facilities, and home health agencies covered under MedPAC’s post-acute payment draft recommendation ought to be revised with a “current-law market-basket update” put in place.
- Physician payment update recommendations: The AHA “urge[d] MedPAC to recommend a higher update to physician reimbursement, one which more fully accounts for the impact of inflation and recent PFS cuts. Specifically, the commission’s draft recommendation to increase physician fee schedule rates by the Medicare Economic Index (MEI) minus 1% is not nearly sufficient to make up for the existing shortcomings in physician reimbursement.”
Editor’s note: To read the JustCoding coverage, click here. To read the AHA’s statement, click here. To read about MedPAC’s recommendations, click here.