MedPAC in a new report advised Congress value-based payment reform and promoting post-acute care can lead to more savings and stronger beneficiary outcomes for the Medicare program, HealthPayerIntelligence reports.
The group in its report says changes already in effect for payment strategies and incentives have helped Medicare reduce spending.
The Medicare Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program, MedPAC states in its report, is a prime example as it helped reduced hospital readmissions and save the program some $2 billion annually.
“Beneficiaries endured fewer readmissions to the hospital, without an increase in risk-adjusted mortality,” MedPAC said. “While the HRRP may have contributed slightly to the secular trend of increasing observation and ED use, the small increases in costs were far outweighed by reduced readmission costs.”
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