As we move into 2023, the impact of the pandemic on marginalized groups continue. The COVID 19-pandemic has exacerbated longstanding racial and ethnic disparities in health care. In terms of national healthcare spending, healthcare inequities make up about $230 billion in annual spending; and that amount could potentially reach $1 trillion by the year 2040 if inequities persist or worsen. In 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new strategic vision to guide the Centers’ model testing and priorities toward a vision of achieving equitable outcomes through high-quality, affordable, person-centered care. But it is important to also highlight what other federal agencies, states, and health plans are doing to address health inequity especially as our healthcare system, as a whole, is moving towards value-based care initiatives.

Continue Reading Health Sector Efforts to Address Health Equity and Affordability in 2023

On November 2, 2016, the final rule with comment period (the “Final Rule”) implementing provisions of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) relating to the new Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Alternative Payment Models (APMs) will be published in the Federal Register.  The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) also