As Congress rushes to pass an omnibus budget bill by the end of the week, a bill extending the 5% bonus physicians receive for participating in value-based care could be included. Late last week, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) introduced the Preserving Access to Value Based Care Act, which would extend the value-based care model two more years beyond its expiration at the end of this year.
“We need to encourage more health care innovation – not pull the rug out from under the people who are making the system work better for everyone,” Whitehouse said in a statement. “ There is strong bipartisan support for our proposal to allow these providers to continue delivering high-quality coordinated care.”
Last month, 44 lawmakers called on congressional leaders to extend the value-based care incentive programs, saying accountable care organizations that participated in the program saved Medicare an estimated $2.1 billion in 2020 — more than triple the $613 million the incentive program cost the federal government.
Value-based care is an alternative payment mode (APM) that reimburses providers for the quality of care, rather than the number of services they provide. The bill ensures that qualification thresholds remain at attainable level for practices that participate in Medicare’s advanced APMs.
Value-based care has been gaining traction with primary care providers. Nearly half of physicians who responded to a survey last summer by the American Academy of Family Physicians said they are participating in some form of value based care, while another 18% said they were developing capabilities to do so.
The model could also be a boon to providers focused on delivering care to patients at home. San Francisco-based Homeward recently began partnering with payers and providers to extend value-based care to home-bound patients in rural areas.
