New Medicare Program Will Change Some Payments for Treating Heart Disease Risks

The Medicare program wants to cut cardiovascular disease by paying providers to reduce the absolute risk of heart disease among some patients, the Department of Health and Human Services announced May 28.

The Million Hearts Cardiovascular Disease Risk Reduction model will allow participating health-care providers to work with Medicare beneficiaries to determine a patient’s individual risk for a heart attack or stroke in the next 10 years, HHS said. Each patient will receive a personalized risk modification plan that will target his or her specific heart disease risk factors, the department said.

Participating providers will be paid for reducing the ...