On July 16, 2025, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) for CY 2026. The proposed rule indicates that CMS wants to accelerate risk within its programs with the expectation that doing so will drive better results. However, many entities are not ready, and the current quality…
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) recently released a new strategy to “Make America Healthy Again.” Broadly, this direction seeks to emphasize prevention, patient engagement, and empowering people to achieve their health goals. More specifically, the new strategy includes goals in three areas: increasing patient engagement, better leveraging data and patient engagement tools, and protecting…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced today that the Medicare Shared Savings Program (Shared Savings Program) continues to save Medicare money while supporting high-quality care. The Shared Savings Program yielded more than $2.1 billion in net savings in 2023 — the largest savings in the Shared Savings Program’s history. In addition, Shared…
Background: The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation tests service delivery models designed to improve care quality and patient outcomes while reducing or maintaining program costs. Historically, Innovation Center models were not explicitly designed to serve underserved populations, and most evaluations have not focused on health equity-related outcomes. In…
The Biden administration rolled out three new payment models intended to lower drug costs, including new Medicare coverage options for drugs cleared under accelerated approval. The release of the three models on Tuesday is in response to an executive order President Biden delivered last year calling for the federal government to search for ways to…
In recent years, momentum among Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) to improve health equity has increased. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ announcement of the redesigned ACO REACH contracting model to improve health equity will only accelerate this momentum. In this blog, we will help ACOs and healthcare payers understand how healthcare analytics can be used to identify health equity challenges…
Appropriate Care: What’s the big deal? It is well known that the United States spends more than any other nation on healthcare, but as a nation, our health outcomes miss the mark. As evidence-based medicine evolves, it is important that our healthcare practices adapt. With burnout at an all-time high and staff shortages on the…
On February 24th, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) revealed the highly-anticipated fate of the Innovation Center’s (CMMI) Direct Contracting model options, announcing a redesign of the Global Professional Direct Contracting (GPDC) Model and the permanent cancellation of the Geographic Direct Contracting (“Geo”) Model. The revamped and rebranded GPDC model—now called Accountable Care…
The Global and Professional Direct Contracting Model will be replaced with a more equity-focused and provider-led Accountable Care Organization Model in 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Thursday. The agency also officially will end the Geographic Direct Contracting model, which it halted last March. The redesigned model, called the ACO Realizing Equity, Access, and Community…
Allison Brennan is the Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for the National Association of ACOs (NAACOS) in Washington, D.C. where she helps develop and advocate for policies to benefit ACOs. In this special bonus episode, she provides an extensive update on health policy and directly addresses the critics of the Global and Professional Direct…