The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) held their regular public meeting on January 16 – 17, 2025. During one of their presentations, “Assessing Payment Adequacy and Updating Payments: Skilled Nursing Facility Services; Home Health Agency Services; Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Services; Outpatient Dialysis Services; and Hospice Services,” there was a draft recommendation specific to inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRF). The draft recommendation was for fiscal year 2026 and noted that Congress should reduce the 2025 Medicare base payment rate by 7 percent. The PowerPoint presentation is available here.
During this public meeting, MedPAC voted to finalize this recommended payment reduction to fiscal year 2026 IRF Prospective Payment System (PPS) payments. Both AMRPA and other national hospital stakeholders, on behalf of IRFs, strongly opposed this proposed payment cut (prior to the public meeting). However, MedPAC advanced the recommended cut with limited discussion about the potential impacts on patient access and IRF operations.
MedPAC’s recommendations do require Congressional action. As a result, advocacy will be planned to continue to voice concerns with this recommendation. Members will be kept apprised of any upcoming changes.
