The AMA, the hospital group, says payments have not kept up with the cost of doing business.
The Medicare Payments Advisory Committee (MedPAC) recommended to Congress to increase payments to doctors and hospitals in 2024.
Still, the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Hospital Association (AHA) said payments were not keeping up with the cost of doing business.
In late 2022, the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule generated many calls for higher reimbursement rates for physicians treating Medicare beneficiaries. Even as medical institutions praise several provisions of the $1.7 trillion federal budget bill that Congress approved late last year, it remains a problem for doctors.
MedPAC, the bipartisan agency that advises Congress on Medicare policy, met on Jan. 12 and 13 to give presentations on payments to doctors, other health care professionals, hospitals and others.
doctor payment
Physicians are paid at 50% of the Medicare Economic Index (MEI). The AMA said the association supports that connection, but “50% of the MEI is not enough.”
“Physicians have been waiting for this change for a long time, as the only Medicare provider that does not renew payments due to inflation % from 2001 to 2021.”
Meanwhile, according to the AMA, doctors are struggling to keep clinics open while dealing with rampant inflation, COVID-19, and rising costs, but Medicare payments are responding adequately. , and has recently plateaued at a 2% payout cut in 2023, the AMA said.
Resneck said: The AMA and others are calling on Congress to reform Medicare to make it more streamlined and better serve patients. As part of that, Congress should adopt his 2024 Medicare Payment Update that allows for a full inflationary increase in healthcare costs. “
hospital responds
The AHA thanked MedPAC for recommending a 2024 payment renewal that adds 1% to the market basket of hospital inpatient and outpatient future payment systems (PPS). However, the AHA said the market basket plus 2.8% for his PPS hospitals for inpatient and outpatient long-term care hospitals facing “unprecedented financial pressure from inflation and nearly two decades of negative Medicare margins.” We asked for a 2.7% increase in
“Simply put, Medicare is not paying hospitals enough,” said Ashley B. Thompson, AHA senior vice president of public policy analysis and development, in a Jan. 3 letter to MedPAC. .
The AHA says, “For many years, Medicare payments have been well below the cost of providing care. This is a fact recognized by the Commission.” Thompson said it shows that Medicare does not cover the cost of providing services to Medicare patients.
The AHA asked the Commission to update the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities and Hospital-Based Specialty Nursing Facilities Act.
Medicare volume
The MedPAC presentation included data on the volume of Medicare services in 2021.
Medicare payments cover nearly 8,000 clinician services, and in 2021, 1.3 million clinicians claimed Medicare physician tariffs. Medicare paid $92.8 billion for services in 2021, $84.7 billion for him in 2020, and $97.2 billion for him in 2019.
According to MedPAC information, the total number of clinicians is stable, but the number of primary care providers is declining. Clinician visits per beneficiary declined in 2020, but “partially recovered” in 2021, with median physician compensation averaging 3% per year from 2017 to 2021. % increased.
Hospital payments involved 3,170 hospitals, stayed 7.1 million inpatients, and received $107.9 billion in service fee payments. He had 3,370 outpatient hospitals where he received $49.9 billion for 135.7 million services.
In the future
MedPAC generally issues its recommendations in reports to Congress in March and June of each year. MedPAC’s next public meeting is scheduled for March 2-3. Meetings are available online.
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