A coalition of 14 health care organizations, including the AHA, today voiced support for the Accountable Care in Rural America Act, the companion to Senate 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 ACOs in rural areas and makes it harder for them to achieve savings even when they improve quality and reduce costs on par with their counterparts in urban areas,” the groups said in a letter of support for the bill, introduced today by Reps. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas; Suzan DelBene, D-Wash.; Roger Marshall, R-Kan.; and Ami Bera, D-Calif.
 
Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Pat Roberts, R-Kan., introduced the Senate bill (S. 2648) last month.

Related News Articles

Headline
The application deadline for the Rural Health Transformation Program is Nov. 5. The program will fund $50 billion to rural providers from fiscal year 2026 to…
Headline
A new report from KFF reveals that Medicare Advantage enrollees had access to just 48% of the physicians available to Traditional Medicare beneficiaries in…
Chairperson's File
Public
This week brings the fourth week of the federal government shutdown as Congress has yet to pass legislation to fund the government. This shutdown is a bit…
Headline
The AHA has released a social media toolkit in advance of National Rural Health Day Nov. 20 that includes advocacy-focused posts for hospitals and health…
Headline
The government shutdown is expected to continue into next week as the Senate is expected to adjourn Oct. 23 with no plans to vote this weekend. The chamber Oct…
Headline
The AHA Oct. 23 recommended changes to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Wasteful and Inappropriate Services Reduction model to address…