MedPAC Discusses Raising Payments For Hospitals, Tying Payments To Quality Of Care

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Also Included In: Public Health;  Caregivers / Homecare;  Nursing / Midwifery
Article Date: 08 Dec 2008 - 0:00 PST

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Hospitals could receive a full "market basket" increase in Medicare payments in fiscal year 2010, while payments to home health agencies, skilled nursing facilities and inpatient rehabilitation centers could remain at current levels, according to draft recommendations discussed on Thursday by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, CQ HealthBeat reports. The proposals, which are subject to a final vote by the panel in January 2009, also would provide a 1.6% payment increase for long-term care hospitals. Panel members said the changes would not decrease beneficiaries' access to hospital services or hospitals' willingness to treat Medicare beneficiaries (Carey, CQ HealthBeat, 12/4).

The draft recommendations would vary payments to individual hospitals based on the quality of care delivered. MedPAC "aims to prod Medicare to get better value for its spending by improving the quality of care" and it believes "that tying payments levels to quality performance will help accomplish that goal," CQ HealthBeat reports. In addition, the draft recommendations called for possibly reducing certain additional payments to teaching hospitals (Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 12/4). MedPAC Chair Glenn Hackbarth presented the draft recommendations that would raise payments to physicians and dialysis facilities in 2010.

MedPAC determined that maintaining current payment levels for SNFs and IRCs would not compromise beneficiaries' access to care or decrease SNFs' willingness to participate in Medicare, according to CQ HealthBeat. However, the commission said that not raising IRC payments could place "nominal financial pressure" on some providers, CQ HealthBeat reports. MedPAC also discussed two recommendations for the home health industry. One recommendation would provide no payment increase in 2010. The other would cut Medicare payments by 5%. MedPAC said beneficiaries' access to home health services is satisfactory and the quality of care delivered is improving (Carey, CQ HealthBeat, 12/4).

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