The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission called on Congress in a Jan.11 vote to update its 2025 Medicare payment rates for hospital inpatient and outpatient services by the existing amount under law plus 1.5%, according to the American Hospital Association.
MedPAC's recommendations to Congress resurfaced it's additional $4 billion recommendation to safety net hospitals through transitioning to a Medicare safety net index policy. It also suggested reducing 2025 payment rates for home health agencies by 7%, skilled nursing facilities by 3%, and inpatient rehabilitation facilities by 5%.
For physicians and other health professional services, MedPAC recommendated updating 2025 payments by half the Medicare economic index increase. For services provided to low-income Medicare beneficiaries, MedPAC suggested enacting a non-budget-neutral add-on payment under the physician fee schedule.
The American Medical Association threw support behind MedPAC's recommendations for urging lawmakers to adopt an inflation-based update for 2025 to reform the "broken Medicare payment system."
"When adjusted for inflation in practice costs, Medicare physician pay declined 26% from 2001 to 2023," AMA President Jesse Ehrenfeld, MD, said in a news release shared with Becker's. "It is urgent that Congress act now to reverse the 3.37% Medicare cut that took effect on January 1, 2024, and tie future updates to inflation to prevent the problem from getting worse."
Dr. Ehrenfeld also urged Congress to pass HR 2474, or the Strengthening Medicare for Patients and Providers Act, to help with Medicare reform.