MedPAC Presentation: Assessing Payment Adequacy And Updating Payments: Home Health Care Services; And Steps Toward Broad Post-Acute Care Payment Reforms

At its January 2014 meeting, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) recommended cutting Medicare reimbursement rates for home health provider organizations with a high rate of avoidable hospital readmissions. MedPAC will present its recommendation to Congress in March. Congressional approval is required for Medicare changes. The recommendation calls for Medicare to establish a hospital readmission reduction policy that imposes a reimbursement cut for home health provider organizations with higher than average rehospitalization rates, and development of a standardized patient assessment tool or set of items that can be commonly used across post-acute care settings . . .