More than three dozen lawmakers are calling on congressional leaders to extend value-based care incentives beyond the expiration of the COVID-19 public health emergency.
In a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), 44 bipartisan representatives urged Congress to extend a 5% incentive payment which encourages practices to transition to alternative payment models (APMs) under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACR). The lawmakers said ending the incentive could slow growth in value-based care programs which tie Medicare reimbursements to patient outcomes.
“MACRA’s APM incentive payments allow physicians and other health care providers to expand services beyond what is possible under the traditional fee-for-service system, including cost sharing reduction, patient transportation and meal programs, and engagement with care coordinators,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter.
The letter stated that ACOs 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 has been growing in popularity in recent years and is helping to drive more healthcare into the home. San Francisco-based Homeward recently announced partnerships with healthcare providers and payers to extend value-based care to people at home in rural communities. Last summer, Florida-based Integrated Home Services said it was expanding its delivery of durable medical equipment and in-home infusion to take advantage of growth in value-based care at home.
However, the migration to value-based care is creating some challenges for clinicians. In a recent webinar, SCAN Group CEO Sachin Jain, MD, cautioned there is a risk of providers short-changing patients under the payment model.
“I think the additional requirements it puts on us is to monitor how care is delivered and to ensure that people aren’t cutting important corners to achieve targets, which is something you definitely often see in mature value-based care models,” Jain said during the webinar.
