Dive Brief:
- In a move that should be welcomed by providers, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission has issued a report naming seven areas it sees as in need of policy change in order to "provide sufficient payment for efficient providers."
- One key change it suggests is to synchronize payment across fee-for-service, Medicare Advantage and accountable care organizations, bearing in mind how changes affect beneficiaries.
- Other areas of focus include improving risk adjustment in Medicare, a shift to using population-wide outcome measures, allocation of money to help low-income beneficiaries and funding primary care using a per-beneficiary payment.
Dive Insight:
One of the immediate impacts implementation of the recommendations could have would be to close the gap in payment between primary care providers and specialists. Right now specialists can make more than double the average pay for primary care providers under Medicare, because their payments are based on procedures while PCP payments are focused on care management. MedPAC's report suggests it's critical to address this disparity, which could deter medical students from becoming much-needed PCPs.