Medicare models

GLP-1 Model Popular Among Seniors

It looks like a lot of seniors want help losing weight. That seems like a reasonable conclusion after a Department of Health and Human Services official told a recent gathering that more than one million Medicare beneficiaries have signed up to participate in Medicare’s GLP-1 Bridge Model, which will temporarily reduce the price of the popular weight-loss drug to $50 a month. The program, which operates outside of Medicare Part D plans, is intended to serve as a bridge to CMS’s broader BALANCE (Better Approaches to Lifestyle and Nutrition for Comprehensive hEalth) Model, which was delayed while CMS continues to [...]

CMS Will Continue Rolling Out Mandatory Models

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and its Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation intend to continue developing and introducing mandatory Medicare models with an emphasis on driving more value-based care. That is the message delivered by CMS administrator Mehmet Oz and CMMI director Abe Sutton during a recent conference. While the track record of CMMI’s models – both voluntary and mandatory – is not great, policymakers believe they remain the best way for government to continue encouraging health care providers to focus more on the delivery of value-based care. To date, only four of the agency’s approximately 50 [...]