MedPAC Report on Regional Variation in Service Use
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has issued a report to Congress on “Measuring Regional Variation in Service Use.” The report is designed to help policymakers compare differences in the use of health care services in Medicare across the country, adjusted to remove the effects of differing wages, payment rates, and health status among geographic areas. Among other things, MedPAC found that while regional variation in service use is smaller than regional variation in Medicare spending, it is substantial: Service use in higher use areas (90th percentile) is about 30% greater than in lower use areas (10th percentile); according to MedPAC, “fraud and abuse may drive some of the highest reported service use.”
