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The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission today voted to recommend that Congress update Medicare payment rates for hospital inpatient and outpatient services by the current law amount plus 1% for 2024, and distribute an additional $2 billion to safety-net hospitals by transitioning to a safety-net index policy. In other action, MedPAC recommended that Congress: 

• Update 2024 Medicare payments for physicians and other health professional services by half the Medicare Economic Index increase, and enact a non-budget-neutral add-on payment under the physician fee schedule to services provided to low-income Medicare beneficiaries.
• Reduce 2024 payment rate for home health agencies by 7%.
• Reduce 2024 payment rates for skilled nursing facilities and inpatient rehabilitation facilities by 3%.
• Update the 2024 Medicare base payment rate for hospice services by the amount specified in current law, and wage adjust and reduce the hospice aggregate cap by 20%.

In addition, MedPAC presented status reports for the Part D and Medicare Advantage programs, and reports on outpatient use of behavioral health services and telehealth. The commission also reviewed three policy approaches to addressing high Part B drug prices, a body of work it will continue this spring.