Several organizations representing ACOs and physicians sent a letter March 26 to CMS administrators requesting more information on new payment models.
The letter, addressed to CMS Administrator Seema Verma and Adam Boehler, deputy administrator and director of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation, requested more transparency on how the government releases and updates its payment models.
The groups said unlike Medicare Advantage and Medicaid changes, payment model alterations are announced through contract amendments and sometimes take place in the middle of a performance year.
"As part of this new process, we request that the Innovation Center refrain from making mid-year changes, which have a significant programmatic or financial impact on model participants," the organizations said. They added, "We ask that you move Innovation Center models to a public process that would allow an opportunity for stakeholder comment on all model design elements prior to finalizing the model."
The organizations that signed the letter are:
AMGA
Association of American Medical Colleges
Health Care Transformation Task Force
Medical Group Management Association
National Association of ACOs
National Coalition on Health Care
Next Generation ACO Coalition
Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative
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