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Dive Brief:
- The CMS agency that tests value-based payment models hopes to announce two new models in behavioral health and maternal health later this year, according to Liz Fowler, director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation.
- Both upcoming models have “a heavy role” for the Medicaid program, Fowler said Thursday during a Health Affairs policy briefing. The behavioral health model, which is currently going through clearance, will also involve Medicare.
- The CMMI is also working on strategies to better integrate specialty care with primary care, a priority Fowler called “a hard nut to crack.”
Dive Insight:
The CMMI was founded more than a decade ago as part of the Affordable Care Act in an effort to move the needle toward paying for quality instead of quantity in healthcare. The models it promulgates can have major implications for government healthcare programs like Medicare and Medicaid — and their beneficiaries.
The CMS estimates more than 41.5 million people were impacted by or received care in innovation models from 2020 to 2022.
The two upcoming models target worsening crises in U.S. healthcare.