HHS considering major Medicare payment overhaul

The Trump administration is signaling it will pursue significant changes to Medicare that could lead to enrollees paying a higher share of medical costs (Source: “HHS hints at major changes to Medicare that could mean higher costs for patients,” STAT, Sept. 21, 2017).

In an informal proposal on Wednesday, federal health officials hinted at several new pilot programs it may implement in the months ahead. One idea would give doctors more latitude to enter into so-called private contracts to charge Medicare beneficiaries more for certain services, if the patients were willing to pay. Elsewhere in the document, officials indicated they might offer more incentives to encourage beneficiaries to join private Medicare plans, known as Medicare Advantage plans.

For now, the proposals are only hints of what the Trump administration hopes to pursue in its Medicare and, potentially, its Medicaid policy making. There are no formal rules for the new ideas, nor is there any clear timeline for when they might be detailed. The suggestions came as part of a broader request, asking doctors, hospitals, and other parties to weigh in on ways that the administration could use an Obama-era policy center to make it easier for the industry to work with Medicare.