ACO REACH

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published new changes to the ACO REACH model to increase predictability for participating ACOs, protect against inappropriate risk score growth, and to advance health equity starting in performance year 2024 (PY2024). The ACO REACH model was created to deliver high-quality and coordinated care to patients while improving costs and health outcomes. Patients in a REACH ACO get help to manage chronic conditions, to receive more preventative health services, to receive care in more convenient ways like telehealth, and to better navigate the health system. When ACOs in the program achieve these goals of providing higher-quality care at a lower cost, they may be eligible to share in those savings. There are currently 132 ACOs participating in this model.Continue Reading CMS releases updates to the ACO REACH model to advance health equity and increase participation

CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure and CMS Innovation Center Director Elizabeth Fowler continue to forge ahead with the Biden-Harris Administration’s plans to evaluate and streamline the alternative payment models being tested at the Innovation Center. The most recent example, announced late last month, includes the redesign and renaming of the controversial Global and Professional Direct Contracting (GPDC) model that aims to introduce value-based payment arrangements in traditional Medicare. The newly announced model, renamed the Accountable Care Organization Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health (ACO REACH) Model, aligns with CMS’s restated goals for the Innovation Center—as outlined in its October 2021 “strategic refresh” white paper—to drive accountable care, advance health equity, support care innovations, improve access by addressing affordability, and partner to achieve system transformation.
Continue Reading CMS Innovation Center Redesigns Direct Contracting Entity Model, Launches ACO REACH