The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission has released its annual report to Congress, weighing in on a slew of topics related to the program from physician reimbursement to COVID’s effects to private coverage.
The commission found that coding differences in Medicare Advantage (MA) increased payments to plans by $17 billion in 2021 alone. The group estimates that higher coding intensity in MA has driven $80 billion in overpayments through 2021 and will drive an estimated $44 billion more in the next two years, reports Fierce Healthcare.
MedPAC estimated that the higher coding intensity would drive $20.5 billion 2022 payments and $23.1 billion in payments for 2023.
“Consistent with prior years, nearly all MA contracts had coding intensity greater than [fee-for-service], and the share of MA contracts that are overpaid after accounting for the coding adjustment continues to increase,” the commission’s analysts wrote. Read more.
