WHAT IS MEDPAC?
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission is a nonpartisan legislative branch agency that provides the U.S. Congress with analysis and policy advice on the Medicare program. The commission serves primarily to provide recommendations on payments to private health plans participating in Medicare and health providers serving Medicare beneficiaries. The commission’s mandate is broad enough to allow purview over beneficiary’s access to care, quality of care received, and other issues affecting Medicare and Medicare beneficiaries.
MEDPAC ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS
Every year in June, MedPAC commissioners put forth a set of recommendations to the United State Congress. These recommendations are formed with the intention of improving the Medicare system, with an emphasis on cutting government costs wherever possible. These recommendations do not immediately affect patients, but are given weighty consideration and can heavily impact the formation of new laws and policies, often meant to help patients but occasionally causing more harm than relief.