WASHINGTON, D.C. — MedPAC, the commission that advises Congress on the inner workings of the vast Medicare system, could be headed to the health care reform Big League, according to the Wall Street Journal Health blog.
While talking with Senate Democrats on Wednesday about how to pay for his proposed health care overhaul, President Barack Obama argued in favor of expanding the powers of MedPAC, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, according to Washington Post blogger Ezra Klein.
Every year, MedPAC writes a report to Congress on Medicare payment policy, Klein said. The report usually contains lots of mind-numbing analysis and recommendations for smart, aggressive reforms, he said. And every year, that report sits on a shelf.
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“Â What if it didn’t,” Klein asked. “What if MedPAC had power?” Apparently, that’s what the White House wants.
Klein said he has been told of two policies being considered to elevate MedPAC. The one Klein writes about is by Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat who proposed in his MedPAC Reform Act to move the obscure Congressional adviser to the Executive Branch of the federal government.
The theory, Klein said, is that MedPAC would act like the the Federal Reserve of Medicare. “Congress has proven itself to be inefficient and inconsistent in making decisions about provider reimbursement under Medicare,” Rockefeller said in his May 20 press release about the introduction of his reform bill. “Congress should leave the reimbursement rules to the independent health care experts.”
The legislation would transfer the power to set reimbursement rates from Congress — and perhaps the interest groups that lobby it — to an agency that critics say is better equipped to make smart medical payment decisions, according to MedPage Today.
More stories worth a read:
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- The Queen’s Medical Center settles whistleblower lawsuits claiming it overcharged government (Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune)
- Slump pushing cost of drugs out of reach (New York Times)
- ‘Pharmemerging’ markets surge (Financial Times)
- American Well’s UnitedHealth Coup: Perspective from CEO Roy Schoenberg (Xconomy | Boston)
- Critics to FDA: Halt prasugrel review; consumer watchdog, drug researcher suggest Lilly blood thinner dosage unsafe (Associated Press/Indianapolis Star)
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[Wikipedia Commons photo of U.S. Capitol Building by Ed Brown, as Edbrown05, May 4, 2005]
