MedPAC’s report to Congress: 7 takeaways

Becker's Healthcare March 16, 2020
Alia Paavola

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission released its March 2020 report on Medicare payment policy to Congress, which includes a chapter analyzing the effects of hospital and physician consolidation in the healthcare sector.

Here are seven takeaways:

1. Medicare’s Insurance Trust Fund is likely to run out without changes. Trustees from Medicare estimate that the program’s Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, mostly funded through a payroll tax, will be depleted by 2026. To keep the fund solvent for the next 25 years, Medicare trustees advise that the payroll tax immediately be raised from 2.9 percent to 3.7 percent, or Part A spending to be reduced by 18 percent.

2. MedPAC recommends boosting payment rate for three sectors:

• Hospitals. MedPAC recommended a...

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