Medicare Advisory Panel Moves to Recommend Fewer Payment Models

A congressional Medicare advisory panel wants the HHS secretary to pursue a smaller, more coordinated portfolio of alternative payment models for health-care providers.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services develops and evaluates the models, or APMs, which test new payment approaches to incentivize and reward providers for delivering cost-effective care that improves patient outcomes. In 2021, the CMS expects to operate 12 individual APMs developed by its Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation.

But on Thursday, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission moved to recommend that the CMS reduce the number of APMs, arguing that the glut of ...