MedPAC, which advises Congress on Medicare, released a set of recommendations. (Source – PDF)
An excerpt:
“To restore budget neutrality, the Congress should require the Secretary to fully offset increases in inpatient payments due to hospitals’ documentation and coding improvements. To accomplish this, the Secretary must reduce payment rates in the inpatient prospective payment system by the same percentage (not to exceed 2 percentage points) each year in 2011, 2012, and 2013. The lower rates would remain in place until overpayments are fully recovered.”
Among other things, MedPAC recommends Congress increase payment rates for acute inpatient and outpatient prospective payment systems; update physician services payments next year by one percent; eliminate an update to payment rates for skilled nursing facility services, eliminate the market basket update next year to home health; and eliminate an update to payment rates for long term care hospital rates for next year.
