News Release
October 20, 2021
NAACOS Statement on CMS Innovation Center Strategy
Attributed to Clif Gaus, Sc.D., President and CEO of the National Association of ACOs
Today’s paper, titled “Driving Health System Transformation – A Strategy for the CMS Innovation Center’s Second Decade,” provides an important roadmap for the administration, policymakers, and healthcare leaders to advance the CMS Innovation Center’s work for the next decade. Among other laudable recommendations, the paper calls for every Medicare beneficiary to have a relationship with a provider accountable for their quality and total cost of care by 2030. NAACOS made a similar call this summer to CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure.
NAACOS applauds efforts to expanded accountable care for all Medicare beneficiaries. This is a worthy and valuable goal that’s needed to put Medicare spending on a more sustainable path. To achieve this goal, however, CMS and the Innovation Center must work to grow the Medicare Shared Savings Program, CMS’s permanent ACO model. There are fewer ACOs today than any year since 2017, a trend that needs to be reversed.
There are several other notable areas of focus in the paper, including addressing equity and affordability and making models more patient-focused. All will help improve our health system and improve patient care. NAACOS stands ready to help CMS reach its goals of better quality care at lower costs.
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Contact:
David Pittman
NAACOS Senior Policy Advisor
202-640-2689
dpittman@naacos.com
