With the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Medicare program embarked on a significant journey toward a value-based payment and care delivery system. The broad goal was to achieve a transformed system focused on the value of the care received by patients over...
The Task Force released an issue brief titled “In the Effort to Improve Health Equity, Terminology Matters” which explores the importance, when addressing health equity, of actors using terminology that is universally agreed upon and understood. The brief analyses similarities and themes that appear across...
The Health Care Transformation Task Force released a new resource highlighting the Medicare Advantage (MA) program’s value proposition as an effective driver of value-based care and related alternative payment models (APMs). This resource, titled “Industry and Consumer Perspectives on Medicare Advantage as an Effective Driver...
“What is Health Care Value?” is a series that highlights the positive impact value-based payment models have had on consumers, patients, providers, and the system as a whole. The series uses statements primarily made during the inaugural Health Care Value Week, which took place in...
The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) is designed to encourage providers to move into value-based care arrangements that prioritize high-quality, patient-centered care. Under MACRA’s creation of the Quality Payment Program (QPP), two tracks are offered to providers: the Merit Based Incentive...
The Health Care Transformation Task Force developed a comprehensive briefer for industry stakeholders on the supplemental benefits offered in the Medicare Advantage (MA) program. The three-page briefer describes the evolution of legislation that established the range of MA supplemental benefits; the expansion of primarily health...
The COVID-19 pandemic and public health emergency swiftly disrupted the health care industry in the United States and globally. Health care systems participating in traditional fee-for-service medicine saw a precipitous drop in patients seeking care, starving them of revenue at the exact moment they needed...
Supplemental benefits are additional services offered by Medicare Advantage (MA) plans other than Part A and Part B benefits. Historically, CMS required supplemental benefits to be an item of service that was not covered by traditional Medicare, but was primarily health related, like dental and...
As the health care system continues to get more involved in this space, stakeholders are beginning to ask: what is the appropriate role of health care in addressing the social factors that influence health? Clear and consistent terminology is an essential first step to determining...
Value-Based Health Care: Cost Reduction AND Quality Improvement Background The United States’ health care system, with its high costs and relatively poor outcomes, is in dire need of transformation. In 2017, U.S. health care spending reached $3.5 trillion, which amounts to 17.9% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)....