The Future Of Delivery System Reform

Over the past several years, the federal government has put billions of dollars into a variety of programs aimed at improving the way health care is delivered. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) authorized a broad agenda of reform projects, including accountable care organizations (ACOs), bundled payments, value-based purchasing, primary care initiatives, and other payment and service delivery models. The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015 established new ways of paying physicians intended to promote high-quality patient care. What will happen to these initiatives under a Congress where Republicans are still seeking to enact major new health reforms and a president who could aggressively use authority granted by the ACA to make sweeping changes in Medicare and other health programs? Does this spell the end of delivery system reform, or could this be a new start with a greater potential to promote efficient and effective health care? The prospect of ACA repeal has raised concerns among advocates, who argue that the enactment of Medicare-led efforts to promote higher-value care represents a real turning point in the battle to reduce waste and inefficiency. They fear that any reversal of the ACA framework would be a setback to the cause of lower costs and higher quality. Those fears are overblown. There is bipartisan agreement on the goal of promoting more efficient and effective health care. MACRA, which is aimed at improving the value of physician services...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Costs and Spending Insurance and Coverage Medicare Payment Policy Accountable Care Organizations ACOs Affordable Care Act HMOs MACRA Medicare Advantage supplemental insurance reform Source Type: blogs