News: MedPAC begins drafting payment recommendations to raise rates in 2019

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) recommended payment adjustments for several settings to Congress this week, according to AHA News Now.

The proposals include: 

• Increasing payment rates for hospital inpatient and outpatient services by 1.25% in 2019
• Eliminating the 2019 and 2020 payment updates for skilled nursing facilities and the 2019 updates for long-term care hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers
• Reducing the 2019 payment rates for inpatient rehabilitation facilities and home health agencies by 5%

MedPAC also discussed a proposal to direct the Health and Human Services Secretary to base Medicare payments to post-acute care providers on a blend of the setting-specific relative weights and unified post-acute care prospective payment system relative weights in fiscal year 2019.

The commission could also vote on recommendations to replace the Merit-based Incentive Payment System for clinicians with a new voluntary value payment program based on population-based measures; increase 2019 payment rates for physicians and other health professional services by the amount specified in current law; and require ASCs to report cost data. A vote could come as early as January.

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in AHA News Now.