Today, America’s Physician Groups (APG), along with eight other healthcare organizations, sent a letter to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma providing recommendations in response to policy and regulatory revisions related to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. The recommendations in the letter focus on ensuring that the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) remains sustainable for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and physician groups who are on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19. The letter also urges the agency to continue its strong support of the volume to value movement.
“Every day, ACOs and physician groups are among the millions of healthcare ‘heroes’ providing care to the communities they serve,” said Don Crane, APG President and CEO. “We urge CMS to provide them with the resources they need to continue that care.”
The letter also recommends that CMS adopt a policy to provide protections to ACOs from losses, extend the current June MSSP deadline for ACOs to voluntarily terminate to the end of October, and provide ACOs with additional time and data to make an informed decision about their ACO participation.
“CMS has been invaluable in advancing value-based care and making it a leading priority,” said Crane. “We remain committed to working together with policymakers with one goal in mind—the transformation of our fragmented healthcare system into one that is coordinated, accountable, and offers high-quality, low-cost care to the patients it serves.”
You can view the letter here.
