CMS In Brief

MedPAC 2011 payment advise: In a March 1 1report to Congress, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission recommends physician service payments be increased by 1% in 2011, and recommends a budget-neutral payment adjustment for primary care services billed under the physician fee schedule and furnished by primary-care-focused physicians. MedPAC asks Congress to increase payment rates for acute inpatient and outpatient prospective payment systems in 2011 by the projected rate of increase in the hospital market basket index for hospitals that participate in quality incentive payment programs. However, MedPAC also recommends CMS reduce payment rates in the inpatient prospective payment system during 2011, 2012 and 2013 to recapture previous overpayments (2"The Gray Sheet" Aug. 10, 2009). The advisory group suggests ambulatory surgical centers receive a payment increase in 2011 of 0.6% and submit cost and quality data to CMS