The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) met on April 1 for its fourth discussion on a recommendation to modify Medicare's current indirect medical education (IME) adjustment from one that is only paid under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS), to one that would be paid under both IPPS and the Outpatient Prospective Payment System [see Washington Highlights, March 5, Oct. 2, 2020].
With 14 commissioners voting yes, two commissioners—Jonathan Perlin, MD and Wayne Riley, MD —abstaining, and one commissioner absent, the following recommendation was approved: “The Congress should require CMS to transition to empirically justified indirect medical education adjustments to both inpatient and outpatient Medicare payments.”
The AAMC submitted comments on the recommendation during initial discussions that occurred in Sept. 2019 [see Washington Highlights, Oct. 18, 2019].
More details regarding the proposal are expected in MedPAC’s June Report.