Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation

“Oh Say Can We See?”: Ways & Means Leaders Seek CMMI Transparency

The chairman and ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee have written to CMS administrator Seema Verma to ask her to address the lack of transparency in the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. In the bipartisan letter, committee chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) and ranking member Kevin Brady (R-TX) note that “…Congress established CMMI to test different innovative delivery system and payment models to improve quality and reduce costs for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries” but observe that “…significant policy changes made unilaterally by the executive branch without sufficient transparency could yield unintended negative consequences for beneficiaries and the [...]

iqtsupport2019-01-18T06:00:19-05:00January 18, 2019|Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation|

Medicaid to Help Pay for Food, Heat, Rent?

Maybe. At least that is what Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar hinted during a recent symposium held in Salt Lake City. During the event, Azar said that HHS’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation seeks …solutions for the whole person, including addressing housing, nutrition, and other social needs. Azar hinted at future CMMI action, saying that What if we gave organizations more flexibility so they could pay a beneficiary's rent if they were in unstable housing, or make sure that a diabetic had access to, and could afford, nutritious food? If that sounds like an exciting idea [...]

iqtsupport2018-11-16T06:00:28-05:00November 16, 2018|Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Medicaid, Medicaid and housing for the disabled|

Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative Showing Mixed Results

The federal Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative is achieving some of its objectives but not others, according to a new Health Affairs study. The program, according to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, seeks to use five means – risk-stratified care management, improved access to and continuity of care, planned care for chronic conditions and preventive care, patient and caregiver engagement, and coordination of care – to “achieve improved care, better health for populations, and lower costs, and can inform future Medicare and Medicaid policy.” According to the Health Affairs study, the program is achieving some of these objectives. CPC [...]

iqtsupport2018-07-09T06:00:24-04:00July 9, 2018|Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation|

CMS Announces Drive to Reduce Paperwork

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is launching a new “Meaningful Measures” initiative that will seek to reduce the regulatory burden on health care providers. According to a CMS news release, Meaningful Measures …will involve only assessing those core issues that are most vital to providing high-quality care and improving patient outcomes. The agency aims to focus on outcome-based measures going forward, as opposed to trying to micromanage processes.. In a speech at the Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network, CMS administrator Seema Verma explained that this project will include moving the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation [...]

iqtsupport2017-11-02T06:00:16-04:00November 2, 2017|Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services|

CMS to Consider Model Behavioral Health Payment and Delivery Program

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation has invited interested parties to weigh in on the possibility of creating a new Medicare model program for behavioral health care delivery and payment. According to a notice published in the Federal Register, The Innovation Center is interested in designing a potential payment or service delivery model to improve health care quality and access, while lowering the cost of care for Medicare, Medicaid, or CHIP beneficiaries with behavioral health conditions. The model may include participation by other payers, qualify as an Advanced Alternative Payment Model (APM), improve health care provider participation in telehealth [...]

iqtsupport2017-07-25T06:00:10-04:00July 25, 2017|Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, CMMI, Medicare|

Group Seeks Preservation, Reform of Federal Innovation Efforts

A coalition of 35 patient, physician, and hospital groups has written to new Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price and asked him to continue the federal government’s exploration of new ways to deliver and pay for Medicare services but to seek certain improvements in how those efforts are undertaken. The coalition Healthcare Leaders for Accountable Innovation in Medicare asked Secretary Price for a reformed Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation so that it operates with … appropriately-scaled, time-limited demonstration projects, greater transparency, improved data-sharing, and broader collaboration with the private sector. The coalition also called for CMMI to [...]

iqtsupport2017-02-16T13:00:11-05:00February 16, 2017|Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, CMMI, Medicare|