MedPAC Holds First Meeting of 2023/2024 Cycle

October 1, 2023 – On September 7th and 8th, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) held its first meeting of its 2023-2024 policy making cycle.

MedPAC, which is charged with regularly providing Medicare payment and policy recommendations to Congress, met to discuss general Medicare policy, the Medicare Advantage program, the Acute Care Hospital at Home program, and ambulatory surgery center (ASC) policies. Noting that ASCs are the only Medicare-enrolled facilities that are not required to report cost data as part of Medicare rate setting policies, MedPAC staff, and commissioners noted their disadvantage in making recommendations on how to provide more accurate payments to ASCs without hampering patient access to care relative to other facility settings. The commission is planning to include a chapter in its report to Congress which will serve as a status update on ASCs and to continue discussions to further develop its thinking on the topic.

The full meeting materials and the slides on the ASC session are available online. The next MedPAC meeting will be held October 5th and 6th.