HRS Monitors MedPAC Meeting Highlighting Healthcare Spending and Workforce Shortage
On September 5th, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) held its first meeting in the 2024–2025 report cycle.
The Commission held three sessions as part of this one-day meeting: a general session on the context for Medicare payment policy; a session on cost-sharing for critical access hospital (CAH) outpatient services; and a session on quality measurement for rural providers.
As part of the general Medicare discussion, the Commission highlighted the workforce shortage that is also impacting the system and noted the critical role Medicare plays in funding graduate medical education (GME). Contributing to the workforce shortages, the U.S. does not produce enough medical students to fill all post-medical training positions (i.e., residencies and fellowships) available nationally.
The slides from the staff presentations to the Commission are available online. The next MedPAC meeting will take place from October 10th to 11th. MedPAC will continue its work toward the publication of its March and June 2025 reports to Congress.