WASHINGTON — Medicare payments to physicians don’t need to be increased next year, the Medicare Payment Assessment Commission (MedPAC) said Tuesday in a report to Congress.
“Overall, access to clinician services for Medicare beneficiaries appears stable and comparable to that for privately insured individuals,” the commissioners said in their 604-page report, one of two reports the commission is required to send Congress each year. Although the pandemic makes it difficult to assess beneficiaries’ quality of care, “we expect volume and revenue to return to pre-pandemic levels (or higher) by 2023. Therefore, the commission does not see a reason to diverge from the current-law policy of no update for 2023.”