MedPAC’s Craig Samitt: System to be based on fee-for-service “chassis.”

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission has said it’s close to completing a plan for unified, site-neutral post-acute payments.

The new system would focus on patient characteristics, rather than setting of care and correct some of the “shortcomings” of the current payment systems, a MedPAC policy analyst said in March. 

The unified system would be used by skilled nursing facilities and home health agencies, among others. 

Some MedPAC members suggested the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services test the system with volunteer post-acute providers. They were scheduled to vote on the system in April and report to Congress in June.