The AHA submitted comments June 26 to the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health for a hearing about improving value-based care. The AHA shared principles Congress should consider when designing alternative payment models to make participation more attractive for potential participants. Those principles include providing an adequate on-ramp and glidepath to transition to risk; including adequate risk adjustment; allowing voluntary participation and flexible design; balancing risk versus reward; and establishing guardrails to ensure participants don't compete against themselves when they achieve optimal cost savings and outcomes, among others. 

Additionally, the AHA was critical of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' newly proposed Transforming Episode Accountability Model — a mandatory bundled payment model — and suggested CMS make participation voluntary along with a host of other changes. The AHA also questioned design elements of CMS’ proposed Increasing Organ Transplant Access model, a mandatory payment model for kidney transplants. 

Related News Articles

Headline
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission June 13 released its June report to Congress that outlines recommendations for hospital and other Medicare payment…
Headline
Data from the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows that health care cuts under…
Headline
The Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health, with support from the Health Resources and Services Administration, will host a five-part learning series…
Headline
The latest video in the AHA’s series “Medicaid: Real Lives, Real Care” features Jennifer Clowers, regional chief financial officer of Our Lady of the Lake…
Headline
The AHA commented to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services June 10 on the fiscal year 2026 inpatient prospective payment system proposed rule (https…
Headline
The AHA expressed concerns (LINK) to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today on payment updates for the fiscal year 2026 proposed rule for the…