14 Oct The Task Force Issues Recommendations on Strengthening the Medicare Advantage Program
Posted at 13:59h
in Policy Communications
Today, the Health Care Transformation Task Force sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in response to a Request for Information aimed at strengthening Medicare Advantage (MA) in ways that align with CMS’ Vision for Medicare and the CMS Strategy Pillars. The recommendations are organized by those related to Driving Innovation to Promote Person-Centered Care; Advancing Health Equity; and Expanding Access to Coverage and Care, and include:
- Driving Innovation to Promote Person-Centered Care: The Task Force recommendations center on issues including recognizing that plans and providers are at different stages of readiness/willingness to take on advanced risk arrangements; the need for multi-payer alignment, particularly related to quality measurement; ways to level the playing field across all Medicare models and programs, engaging specialists to contract in MA plans; defining and assessing MA plan success in value-based care arrangements; and supporting data infrastructure investments.
- Advancing Health Equity: The Task Force comments focus on improving the rate and accuracy of data collection, both for patient-level demographic data and for data on social drivers of health (SDOH); strategies for meaningfully engaging beneficiaries; and addressing ways that the Star Ratings program can support health equity.
- Expanding Access to Coverage and Care: Recommendations in this area speak to the need to establish permanent coverage of telehealth services beyond the public health emergency (PHE); addressing gaps in consumer decision-making tools for MA; supporting expanded access to care for rural communities; and expanding the criteria for supplemental benefits eligibility.