The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) released its annual report examining various issues in the Medicare payment system.
In the first chapter of the report — entitled Report to the Congress: Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System — the commission recommends that Congress modify the way Medicare pays for Part B drugs by revising the average sales price system in 2018 and creating and phasing in a voluntary drug value program no later than 2022.
Another chapter addresses challenges faced in the Medicare merit-based incentive payment system (MIPS), as well as possible alternatives to MIPS and strategies to encourage providers to participate in advanced alternative payment models. While the commission makes no formal recommendations in this chapter, it discusses strategies to reduce administrative burden on providers.
The report also discusses possible models for a Medicare premium support system, the role of Medicare policy in provider consolidation, and the program’s effects on the health care system. However, MedPAC did not make any recommendations on these topics.
Contact Director of Policy Erin O’Malley at eomalley@essentialhospitals.org or 202.585.0127 with questions.
