CRS Report Details Changes To Medicare Under Health Reform Law

The Congressional Research Service has released a series of reports summarizing changes to public health care programs resulting from enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Pub. L. No. 111-148) and its companion, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act (Pub. L. No. 111-152), among them Medicare Provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) dated May 27.

The 92-page report highlights payment rate changes affecting Medicare fee-for-service providers, focusing on hospitals and other Part A providers, as well as physicians and other Part B providers, payment and administrative changes affecting the Medicare Advantage program (Part C), and changes affecting the Part D prescription drug benefit.

CRS said the reform law was adopted to ensure the program's sustainability for 45 million beneficiaries against a backdrop of rising health care costs, an aging baby boomer generation, and reduced revenues from a weakened economy.