MedPAC issues June report to Congress

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission yesterday released its June report to Congress, which includes the panel’s recent recommendations for reforming Medicare payment for Part B drugs and accelerating the roll out of a post-acute care prospective payment system. The report also discusses possible future policy directions for freestanding emergency departments, including how to encourage their development in areas with inadequate access to ED services; using premium support in Medicare; and redesigning the Merit-based Incentive Payment System and strengthening advanced alternative payment models for clinicians. In a February letter to MedPAC, the AHA supported the commission’s increased focus on drug pricing but expressed concern that many of its proposals for reforming Part B drug payment would unfairly penalize hospitals for price increases that are outside of their control. AHA also urged caution to ensure that a reliable PAC PPS could be achieved by 2021 as MedPAC recommended, given that the truncated timeline would remove more than four years from the existing, complex policy development process. In addition, AHA submitted recommendations for MedPAC to consider as it addresses access to ED services in vulnerable communities, including a strategy proposed by its Task Force on Ensuring Access in Vulnerable Communities.