MedPAC

Federal Health Policy Update for January 22

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for January 16-22. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress The House today passed an Appropriations Committee FY 2026 partial spending proposal that includes a Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies bill. Policy highlights include: Telehealth. The bill would extend the major Medicare telehealth flexibilities and the waiver of periodic in-person visits for mental health telehealth services through the end of 2027. Medicaid DSH. The bill would cancel the FY 2026 and FY 2027 cuts of $8 billion a year and leave just one year, [...]

joe2026-01-22T17:37:45-05:00January 22, 2026|Affordable Care Act, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Congress, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid DSH allotments, Medicare, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC, post-acute care, Telehealth|

MedPAC Meets

MedPAC’s commissioners held their latest public meeting on Thursday, January 15 and Friday, January 16. The primary subject of the meeting was discussion of MedPAC’s preliminary recommendations for Medicare rates for 2027. The topics on the meeting’s agenda were: Medicare payments for hospital inpatient and outpatient services Medicare payments for physicians and other health professional services Medicare payments for skilled nursing facility services, home health agency services, inpatient rehabilitation facility services, outpatient dialysis, and hospice services mandated reports on dual-eligible special-needs plans and the impact of recent changes in the home health prospective payment system status reports on the Medicare [...]

joe2026-01-21T12:01:24-05:00January 21, 2026|Medicare, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC|

Federal Health Policy Update for December 11

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for December 5-11. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress The Senate voted today on competing proposals to address health care affordability: Democrats sought a clean extension of the Affordable Care Act premium tax credits set to expire on December 31 while Republicans tried to consolidate support around an alternative plan. Neither bill gained the 60-vote threshold needed for passage. In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) intends to bring a vote on a health care package next week but at this [...]

joe2025-12-11T15:48:53-05:00December 11, 2025|Affordable Care Act, Alternative payment models, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, Congress, hospitals, Medicaid, Medicare, Medicare disproportionate share, Medicare DSH, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC|

MedPAC Discusses Preliminary 2027 Rate Recommendations

The members of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission met virtually last week and reviewed and discussed preliminary proposals for 2027 Medicare rates and other Medicare payment issues. Leading the agenda for the two days of meetings was a review of the adequacy of current Medicare payments and discussion about rate 2027 rate recommendations for: hospital inpatient and outpatient services physician and other health professional services inpatient rehabilitation facility services skilled nursing facility services home health care services hospice services outpatient dialysis services MedPAC members also discussed: their mandated report on rural emergency hospitals an update on site-neutral payments, including the [...]

joe2025-12-10T08:11:11-05:00December 10, 2025|Congress, hospitals, Medicare, Medicare disproportionate share, Medicare DSH, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC|

MedPAC Meets

MedPAC’s commissioners held their latest public meetings on Thursday, September 4 and Friday, September 5. The subjects on the meetings’ agenda were: Medicare payment operations and improving payment accuracy oversight needed to ensure Medicare’s sustainability: a report from the Government Accountability Office context for Medicare payment policy access to hospice and certain services under the hospice benefit for beneficiaries with end-stage renal disease or cancer the association between changes in Medicare Advantage enrollment and hospital finances Go here for summaries of the issues and key points and links to the presentations delivered by MedPAC staff and go here a transcript [...]

joe2025-09-09T13:26:12-04:00September 10, 2025|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Medicare, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC|

Federal Health Policy Update for August 28

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for August 22-28. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress The House and Senate are in recess and will return to Washington D.C. on September 2. Funding for the federal government expires on September 30, as will a number of health care extenders, including for telehealth flexibilities, the Acute Hospital Care at Home program, the Medicare-dependent hospital and low-volume hospital programs, and delays to reductions to Medicaid disproportionate share (Medicaid DSH) allotments. Congressional Budget Office (CBO) The CBO has written to congressional [...]

joe2025-08-28T15:48:29-04:00August 28, 2025|Alternative payment models, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, CMMI, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid DSH allotments, Medicare, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC, Telehealth|

Federal Health Policy Update for July 17

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for July 11-17. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Proposed Medicare Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment System Regulation for CY 2026 CMS has published its proposed Medicare outpatient prospective payment and ambulatory surgical center payment system rule for CY 2026. Highlights include: A 2.4 percent increase in outpatient rates that is offset by a two percentage point clawback under the 340B final remedy rule, making the actual increase just 0.5 percent. A site-neutral payment policy for the outpatient administration [...]

joe2025-07-17T14:50:40-04:00July 17, 2025|340b, Accountable Care Organization, ACO, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, Medicaid, Medicare, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC, post-acute care, social determinants of health, Telehealth|

Federal Health Policy Update for June 12

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for June 6-12. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress Republican senators continue to work on their version of a reconciliation bill with a goal of passage by July 4, although that deadline may slip. Some Senate committees have begun releasing their portions of the bill but the Finance Committee’s bill, with its tax and Medicaid provisions, has not yet been released. Among the majority party in the Senate, fault lines around the House-passed reconciliation bill remain around Medicaid provider taxes, state [...]

joe2025-06-12T16:32:26-04:00June 12, 2025|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, hospitals, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid managed care, Medicaid regulations, Medicare, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC, Telehealth|

Federal Health Policy Update for May 29

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for May 23-29. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress The House and Senate are out of Washington, D.C. this week for the Memorial Day holiday and will return to Washington on June 3. Senate Republican staff is working on the House-passed reconciliation bill to identify provisions that may need to change or be excluded to comply with the Senate’s rules for reconciliation bills. At the same time, some Republican senators have expressed opposition to the House reconciliation bill; some maintain that [...]

joe2025-05-29T15:36:56-04:00May 29, 2025|Accountable Care Organization, ACO, Alternative payment models, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, COVID-19, Medicaid, Medicare, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC|

MedPAC Makes 2026 Medicare Rate Recommendations

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission recently released “Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy,” its required March report to Congress. In addition to addressing a variety of Medicare issues, MedPAC presented its 2026 Medicare rate recommendations to Congress. Those recommendations are: Hospital inpatient and outpatient services – the rate increase in current law plus one percent. MedPAC also reiterated its past recommendation that Medicare redistribute current Medicare disproportionate share (Medicare DSH) and uncompensated care payments through MedPAC’s own mechanism, the Medicare Safety-Net Index (MSNI) it introduced in 2023, maintaining that doing so, when supplemented with an additional $4 billion in [...]

joe2025-03-20T14:44:09-04:00March 25, 2025|Medicare, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC|