U.S Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH) convened a hearing on Wednesday to probe whether Medicare Part A policies are improving care and cost efficiency in post-acute medical care.
Tiberi, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, heard testimony from administrators, researchers and physicians about ways to improve post-acute care at home health agencies, long-term care hospitals and skilled nursing facilities.
“We are all here for the same reason today: to explore ways to better improve the quality of care for Medicare patients,” Tiberi said.
As subcommittee members learn lessons from hospital quality programs, Tiberi said, they will be able to explore the best ways to legislate within the post-acute care space.
“We will hear about the important changes that were made in the bipartisan, bicameral IMPACT Act of 2014, and we will hear directly from stakeholders on IMPACT’s implementation,” Tiberi said. “Part of IMPACT’s story has already been told, as three of seven quality measures from IMPACT have already been implemented. Some of IMPACT’s story will be told over the next two years, as CMS continues to implement the four remaining measures. But, just because the IMPACT story is ongoing does not mean Congress should idly sit by and wait. Over the next few weeks, the committee will debate and deliberate over the most effective ways to incentivize high quality, low cost care.”
U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX), the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said that the hearing provided a valuable opportunity to examine if Medicare policies are incentivizing hospitals and post-hospitalization providers to deliver high-quality care.
“Physician payment policies are just one piece of the puzzle,” Brady said. “To ensure the Medicare program is truly delivering the high-quality care seniors deserve, we also need to improve the way it pays post-acute, or after hospitalization providers.”
Dr. Gregory Worsowicz, the chairman of the board for the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, said that he would ask that any programs that are put in place be coordinated.
“We don’t suboptimize what we are doing and restrict (doctors) with so many regulatory issues (they’re) hamstrung on what [they] can do or chasing incentives that may not align with others,” Worsowicz said.
Those reforms were addressed in the bipartisan Medicare Post-Acute Care Value-Based Purchasing Act, H.R. 3298, that Brady introduced.
“By providing the right incentives, this legislation will bring increased competition and innovation to Medicare while lowering costs to the program,” Brady said. “At the same time, the bill will raise the bar for patient care nationwide. It rewards providers who set themselves apart in delivering excellent care to Medicare patients.”