The next phase of value-based care may depend on specialists. A new industry toolkit from the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations (NAACOS) argues that healthcare organizations must move specialists from peripheral participants to active partners in managing cost, quality and patient outcomes, offering a framework for...
Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center posted a Model Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for a new model focused on lifestyle approaches to reducing chronic disease for Medicare enrollees.
The new model is called Make America Healthy Again: Enhancing Lifestyle and Evaluating Value-based...
In April, NAACOS signaled its intent to work with new CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz on the future of value-based care, as new JAMA studies this week highlighted savings from MSSP and shortcomings in the REACH ACO model. Oz also faced pressure from Congressional Republicans this week, who accused CMMI of advancing costly models that miss...
Last week, a bipartisan group of legislators introduced a bill that would cancel the 2.83% Medicare physician pay cut and instead boost pay by 2%. Provider groups and stakeholders from across the industry have voiced support for the bill.
The bill, "Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act," would reverse the January 1...White Papers, E books, Reports and more
Earlier this year, the American Medical Association (AMA) released the Value-based Care Playbook in partnership with America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations (NAACOS).
The Playbook illustrates best practices for value-based care arrangements in order to encourage adoption...National News
After discovering widespread fraud amounting to billions of inaccurate billing for catheters, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a rule absolving participating accountable care organizations (ACOs) in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP).
In 2023, CMS observed "significant, anomalous, and highly...National News
This week, America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the American Medical Association (AMA), and the National Association of ACOs (NAACOS) released a playbook on voluntary best practices as part of their efforts together to advance the adoption of value-based care arrangements in the private sector to improve the quality, equity, and...National News
The National Association of Accountable Care Organizations (NAACOS), a nonprofit which represents accountable care organizations (ACOs), uncovered a Medicare fraud scheme that may have cost the government $2 billion.
Federal officials are now investigating the fraudulent billing of nearly 406,000 patients for catheters. The Washington...National News
A bipartisan group of lawmakers have reintroduced a bill that would reform alternative payment models (APM) and allow the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to extend APM incentives. Also, the agency's Innovation Center provides an update on the Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health...National News
Adding a seventh track to the advanced payment model would provide a better bridge from the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) to the ACO REACH model, according to the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations NAACOS. CMS is taking your comments.
According to a NAACOS blog post by David Pittman, the organization's...
Last Thursday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published the proposed 2023 physician fee schedule (PFS) which included an overhaul to the agency's strategies on accountable care organizations (ACOs) through the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP).
In February, CMS pulled the Accountable Care Organizations...
This week, the Center for Medicare hinted at new value-based approaches to palliative care; health equity takes precedence in the national conversation on rural payment models; and value-based contracts are analyzed for their ability to mitigate drug costs.
The Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) is now ten years old, and with it...CMS Rules
On February 24, the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services (CMS) gave a long-awaited announcement regarding the future of the Global and Professional Direct Contracting Model (GPDC). The existing model will phase out by December 31, 2022 and will be redesigned to create the Accountable Care Organization Realizing Equity, Access and...Arizona News
Value-based payment arrangements are rapidly growing with several Arizona-based companies either joining national programs or expanding value-based design to other areas of the country. The National Association of Accountable Care Organizations (NAACOS) says that bigger changes can't come fast enough.
In a press release last week,...National News
The National Association of Accountable Care Organizations (NAACOS) sent a letter to Representatives Derek Kilmer (D-WA), Kathleen Rice (D-NY) and Adrian Smith (R-NE) in support of a bill sponsored by the bipartisan group that would remove a statutory requirement that patients have at least one primary care visit with a physician during...CMS Rules
On Tuesday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a final rule for the Calendar Year (CY) 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS). The PFS includes policy changes for Medicare payments and Medicare Part B, and is the major mechanism for rate setting for the Medicare program as a whole. The PFS must remain budget...Arizona News
The Next Generation accountable care organization (Next Gen ACO) alternative payment model will end in 2022, but not before it saved Medicare some significant money, according to new data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS found that in 2020, the Next Gen model saved $637 million on the whole, but that number...National News
Last week, the National Association of ACOs (NAACOS) sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requesting leniency regarding performance benchmarks and the potential option for accountable care organizations to select pre-pandemic years as the basis for benchmark measurements. Additionally, CMS announced the...
Comments on the Calendar Year 2022 Payment Policies Under the Physician Fee Schedule are now closed as of September 13. Changes to Medicare Part B payment policies as well as updates to the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) and the Quality Payment Program (QPP) are included in the annual PFS rule. Providers broadly oppose Medicare...
