Premier Provides Input to Senate Committee on Physician Payment Reform

Premier responded to a white paper issued by Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID) that outlines bipartisan policy concepts to reform how physicians are paid under Medicare. Premier offers several recommendations on how Congress can further advance high quality patient care through supporting value-based arrangements, including by:

• Extending the Advanced APM incentive payments for at least two years while Congress continues to evaluate longer-term physician reforms. As part of this, Congress should design future incentives that are sustainable, predictable and timely;
• Strengthening the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) by eliminating the arbitrary high-low revenue distinction and delaying changes to quality reporting requirements;
• Expanding access to APMs for diverse participants, including medical specialties, safety net, rural, small and other practices;
• Setting a clear plan for moving beyond testing to nationally scale successful models;
• Expanding opportunities for providers and stakeholders to provide input throughout the model lifecycle;
• Providing the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) with the tools necessary to forecast the longer-term budgetary impacts of legislation to ensure policymakers are equipped with the best data when crafting legislative solutions;
• Eliminating cost sharing for attributed beneficiaries who require chronic care management or receive health equity-related services, such as social determinants of health (SDOH) risk assessment or community health integration services;
• Extending telehealth flexibilities and Medicare hospital-at-home program.

As part of the Alliance for Value-Based Patient Care, Premier also sent a letter to Senate Finance Committee and other House and Senate healthcare committee leaders calling for policy changes to encourage more clinicians to join and remain in alternative payment models.