The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission voted Jan. 14 to recommend a 2 percent raise in Medicare payments for hospitals next year.
The commission said it wants to give the payment boost to both acute-care and long-term care hospitals. The 2 percent payment increase will result in about a $750 million to $2 billion increase in acute-care hospital spending for Medicare and about $50 million for long-term care hospitals.
MedPAC also plans to recommend no change to the payment rate for physicians in 2022 and a 5 percent decrease for home health firms and inpatient rehabilitation centers.
Although MedPAC will recommend the payment boost, Congress is not required to implement the recommendation.
The vote occurred at MedPAC's January public meeting.