Main Library
Health care is a deeply partisan issue, as the presidential campaign makes clear every day. Yet beneath the bitter debates and far from the daily headlines, Republicans and Democrats have quietly come to agree on one reform with far-reaching consequences: transforming our century-old system for paying doctors for the care they provide from one based on fee-for-service visits, tests, and hospital admissions to one based on quality of care, health outcomes, and patient satisfaction, otherwise known as value-based care.
At the federal level, top Trump administration health officials are strong advocates for value-based payment initiatives that originated during the Obama administration. Hundreds of accountable care organizations that care for millions of patients are tying payments to quality of care, improved patient outcomes, and better use of resources. The model has been adopted or explored in many states, some led by Republican lawmakers, others by Democrats.