The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) previewed recommendations it will make to Congress for the 2025 Medicare program year during its December public meeting, the American College of Radiology (ACR) reported.
The commission plans to include recommendations in its March report regarding whether payments to physicians and other health professionals are adequate and how they should be updated for 2026. The ACR noted that MedPAC is suggesting that, for 2026, Congress should update the 2025 Medicare base payment rate for physicians and other health professional services by the projected increase in the Medicare Economic Index (MEI) minus one percentage point. (The MEI is projected to increase by 2.3% for 2026, so the update would be 1.3%, the ACR said.)
MedPAC will vote on final payment recommendations at its next public meeting, which will be held January 16 and 17, 2025.