MedPAC Processes Headache-Inducing Alternatives for Estimating MA Coding Intensity
As the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) continues to consider ways Congress could achieve greater parity between traditional, fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare and Medicare Advantage, its September public meeting touched on several program aspects that are ripe for change. Three such areas — MA benefit standardization, access and quality, and encounter data — are slated to be addressed in separate chapters of its June 2024 report, MedPAC confirmed. Meanwhile, an analytical discussion on alternative methods of assessing MA coding intensity could lead the commission to conclude that MA plans are overpaid by even more than its current estimates, which are already disputed by the industry’s largest trade group.