Medicare
Medicare continues to struggle to create payment mechanisms that provide the right balance of incentives to ensure an appropriate level of access to new technology for beneficiaries while managing overall program costs.
The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA) reduces spending across a broad range of government programs. In response to a groundswell of provider concern, Congress and the President enacted the Medicare Balanced Budget Refinement Act (BBRA) in 1999.
With demographic changes projected to drive up expenditures and the predicted insolvency of the Medicare trust fund, policymakers are looking to the private sector for ideas.
Medicare is the primary payer for most hospital-based post-acute providers. The number of Medicare patients receiving post-acute care has increased and those receiving post-acute services are receiving more intensive care.