Medicare advisers to Congress began work on their next set of annual recommendations last week, Axios' Maya Goldman reports.
Why it matters: While Congress seldom follows the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's biannual proposals, the expert panel's recommendations still hold weight in policy development conversations.
Areas of focus this year include:
1. Medicare Advantage. MedPAC maintains that its data show MA is overpaid relative to fee-for-service Medicare, though not all commissioners agree with that analysis.
- This fall and early next year, MedPAC will discuss how MA enrollees make use of post-acute care services and supplemental benefits, commission leaders wrote in a blog post last week.
- They'll also look into how MA plans to reimburse health care providers, plan networks, and medical coding differences between MA and traditional Medicare that lead to inflated spending in the MA program.
2. MediGap. The commission also plans to start analyzing supplemental Medicare insurance offerings this year.
- MedPAC hasn't made any recommendations to Congress on MediGap since 2012, and has never sent proposals on supplemental coverage benefit packages or eligibility rules, a spokesperson told Axios.
3. Rural health. The commission kicked off its rural health work during its meeting last Thursday.
- MedPAC discussed beneficiary cost-sharing for outpatient services at rural hospitals. Medicare enrollees currently pay higher coinsurance for outpatient care received at these critical access hospitals than they do for care at typical acute care facilities.
- Commissioners also began looking into how Medicare measures rural provider quality.
Remember: MedPAC submits formal recommendations to Congress in March and June of each year.
