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A large group of 222 healthcare organizations, both national healthcare associations and provider organizations, including accountable care organizations (ACOs), sent a letter on Monday, February 14, to Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, urging him not to cancel the Global and Professional Direct Contracting (GPDC) model, but instead make adjustments to it. Among the 222 organizations were the Los Angeles-based America’s Physician Groups (APG) and the Washington, D.C.-based NAACOS, the National Association of ACOs.
APG’s press release on the subject began thus: “America’s Physician Groups (APG) today, along with hundreds of other groups, urged HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra not to cancel the Global and Professional Direct Contracting (GPDC) model and instead make adjustments to the program. Killing the GPDC model would especially hurt underserved populations where the program has disproportionately more providers caring for patients.” And it quoted Don Crane, APG’s president and CEO, as stating that “The direct contracting program is good for patients, it’s good for providers, and it strengthens the Medicare program. Killing the direct contracting program at this stage is just bad policy,” Crane said. “It would not only hurt Medicare beneficiaries, it would undermine the important work of the CMS Innovation Center. In particular, many of the physicians in this model are now able to provide care to historically underserved communities where there are deep health disparities…why would we hurt this progress?”