The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) has announced a refreshed strategy to promote evidence-based prevention, empower beneficiaries to achieve their health goals, and promote competition and choice in health care markets. Value-based payment (VBP) can advance that vision, but only if CMMI dramatically amplifies the will among provider organizations to fully commit to generating health…

Last month, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its 2026 Medicare Advantage (MA) Rate Announcement, projecting a 5.06% average increase in payments to MA plans. That’s a notable jump from the 3.70% increase we saw in 2025. More than just a financial adjustment, this signals growing confidence in the Medicare Advantage model—and with…

Integrating care for people dually eligible for and enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid remains a bipartisan policy priority. Because Medicare and Medicaid are administered and funded separately, most dual-eligible beneficiaries receive coverage through two distinct programs with separate budgets, which lack financial incentives to coordinate care. To address these misaligned payment incentives, much of policy makers’ efforts…