Medicare Panel May Seek 2021 Doctor, Surgery Center Pay Freeze (1)

Doctors and ambulatory surgery centers would see no Medicare payment rate increases in 2021 under proposals advanced by an influential congressional advisory committee at a Dec. 5 meeting.

And the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s draft proposal for a smaller 2% payment hike for acute care hospitals in 2021 will face additional debate at the panel’s upcoming January meeting.

Each year, the commission makes recommendations to Congress about how to update payment rates for various groups of providers that treat Medicare beneficiaries. The commission will vote on the recommendations at its January meeting.

But if there is substantial agreement among commissioners ...