CMS to launch new direct-contracting pay models in 2020

HHS on Monday launched an ambitious, double-pronged strategy to shift primary care from fee-for-service payments to a global fee model where clinicians and hospitals could assume varying amounts of risk.

HHS Secretary Alex Azar told a crowd of stakeholders at the American Medical Association in Washington that the CMS projects the new voluntary programs will shift at least a quarter of people in traditional Medicare out of fee-for-service.

The first model aims at small primary-care practices, offering two options with a flat monthly fee per patient. Bonuses or penalties will depend on their ability to keep their patients “healthy and at home,” said Adam Boehler, director of the CMS’ Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, or CMMI.

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