Obama Wants to Give MedPAC Power Over Payments

In a letter sent Tuesday to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and his counterpart on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), President Barack Obama has thrown his support behind a measure that would give the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) extraordinary power to affect how much the federal government pays providers.

According to Modern Healthcare, under a provision that could end up in a broader health reform bill, recommendations made by the nonpartisan MedPAC would go into effect unless otherwise opposed by a majority of congressional members.