The AHA July 16 urged the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation not to implement its newly proposed Increasing Organ Transplant Access Model as currently constructed, expressing concerns about many of its design features. The proposed mandatory payment model would test whether performance-based incentive payments paid to or owed by participating kidney transplant hospitals would increase access to kidney transplants while preserving or enhancing the quality of care and reducing Medicare expenditures. AHA said that IOTA features could exacerbate inequities and negatively impact quality of care. Specifically, AHA said the IOTA model would add unnecessary disruption and uncertainty to the transplant ecosystem, potentially incentivize sub-par matches given the heavy emphasis on volume and would be discordant with other regulatory requirements. 

Related News Articles

Headline
AHA leaders today participated in Sanford Health's fourth annual Summit on the Future of Rural Health Care in Sioux Falls, S.D. Bill Gassen, Sanford Health…
Headline
Applications for the Rural Health Transformation Program are due Nov. 5 to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The program will fund $50 billion…
Headline
The federal government shutdown will continue as the Senate Oct. 3 failed to adopt a government funding deal. The latest attempt to pass the House-passed…
Headline
The federal government shut down Oct. 1 following a failed Senate vote on the House-passed continuing resolution to fund the government by midnight Sept. 30.…
Headline
States have until Sept. 30 to submit an optional letter of intent to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services indicating they plan to apply to the…
Headline
Susan Doherty, AHA’s vice president of field engagement, and Rebecca Chickey, AHA’s senior director of behavioral health services, write on the unique ways…