Update for 2010
Staff Reporters
According to Modern Healthcare, December 5, 2008, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission [MedPAC] just drafted recommendations to increase payment rates for inpatient and outpatient services at the full rate of inflation in 2010, concurrent with the implementation of a quality incentives program.
A Non-Specific Market Basket
Although the draft didn’t provide a specific increase for hospitals, the projected market-basket update in 2010 for hospitals is 2.7 percent. MedPAC revisited a proposal it has been trying to get Congress to approve for the past several years: to reduce the indirect medical education (IME) adjustment by 1 percentage point to help finance the quality incentives program for hospitals.
Related Payment Issues
On other payment issues, the commission mulled over a draft recommendation to increase Medicare physician payments by 1.1 percent in 2010, the same increase doctors will receive in 2009, while commissioners also discussed options to make positive payment updates for ambulatory surgery centers contingent upon the submission of cost data to HHS.
Assessment
The draft recommendations will be voted on in January, 2009.
Conclusion
And so, your thoughts and comments on this Medical Executive-Post are appreciated.
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