AHA-supported bill would fix Medicare ACO benchmarking flaw

Jun 15, 2021 - 02:03 PM
senate-legislation-update

A coalition of 13 health care organizations, including the AHA, today voiced support for the Accountable Care in Rural America Act, bipartisan legislation that would revise the benchmarking formula for the Medicare Shared Savings Program to ensure participating accountable care organizations have an equal opportunity to share in savings regardless of their geographic location.
 
“This legislation fixes an important flaw in the current MSSP benchmarking methodology – a flaw that systematically disadvantages many ACOs, including a high proportion in rural areas, and makes it harder for them to achieve savings even when they improve quality and reduce costs,” the groups said in a letter of support for the bill, introduced last week by Reps. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas; Suzan DelBene, D-Wash.; Mike Kelly, R-Pa.; Ami Bera, D-Calif.; Tom O’Halleran, D-Ariz.; Terri Sewell, D-Ala.; Neil Dunn, R-Fla.; and Lance Gooden, R-Texas.
 

Related News Articles

Headline
Registration open for 2027 AHA Rural Healthcare Leadership Conference
The 2027 AHA Rural Healthcare Leadership Conference will be held Jan. 31-Feb. 3 in Orlando, Fla. Join fellow rural hospital CEOs, senior executives, clinical…
Blog
Value-based Care Can Make Healthcare More Affordable for Patients
For patients, healthcare affordability is about more than the price of an individual service. It is also about whether the healthcare system meets their needs…
Headline
AHA urges CMS to prioritize hospitals, providers with Rural Health Transformation Program funding
The AHA Aug. 5 provided comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on the distribution of funding for the Rural Health Transformation…
Headline
Blog details how healthcare affordability begins with having care close to home and why rural hospitals matter
A blog by Shannon Wu, AHA director of payment policy, explains why having access to care close to home and the existence of rural hospitals are fundamental…
Blog
Affordability Starts Close to Home: Why Rural Hospitals Are Essential to Lowering Healthcare Costs
Public
Healthcare affordability discussions often focus on premiums, deductibles and drug prices. Those costs matter. But for the more than 46 million Americans who…
Headline
Report highlights how rural areas expanded maternity care access
The Health Resources and Services Administration’s Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies Program has released a report highlighting how three…