- CMS Administrator appoints new value-based leadership team. CMS Administrator Seema Verma on Tuesday announced several new appointments and promotions aimed at advancing value-based care and improving consumer choice, among other initiatives. Appointees and promotions include Paul Mango, senior partner at McKinsey & Company, who will serve as chief of staff and chief principal deputy administer for CMS; Brady Brookes, who was promoted from deputy chief of staff at CMS to a concurrent role as deputy administrator; and Chris Traylor of Advanced Perspectives Group, who will serve as CMS' deputy administrator for strategic initiatives.
- Study: Medicaid expansion linked to more employment for people with disabilities. People with disabilities are substantially more likely to be employed if they reside in states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, according to a new study in the American Journal of Public Health. Specifically, the researchers found that as of 2017, 47% of people with disabilities in states that expanded Medicaid said they were employed or self-employed, compared with 41.3% of such people in 2013. Similarly, the study found that over the same timeframe, the percentage of people with disabilities in states that expanded Medicaid who reported not working because of a disability declined from 32% to 27%. According to the researchers, neither trend was identified in states that opted not to expand Medicaid.
- Bundled payments did not significantly lower Medicare spending, research shows. Hospital participation in Medicare's Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) initiative was not associated with significant changes in Medicare payments or certain care quality and outcomes, according to a study in New England Journal of Medicine. The researchers said they found no statistically significant difference between the average Medicare payments for five common medical conditions included under BPCI at hospitals participating in BCPI and hospitals not participating in BPCI between 2013 to 2015.
From Advisory Board:
- The 2018 MIPS cost category—decoded. Join us on Thursday, August 2, at 3:00 p.m. ET, to learn the metrics included in the 2018 MIPS cost category, how providers' scores will be calculated, and strategies for improving performance.
- How to succeed under Medicaid risk. Join us on Tuesday, August 14 at 1:00 p.m. ET for a live panel discussion with population health, health plan, and Medicaid strategy experts from within Advisory Board to learn about key considerations for taking on Medicaid risk and setting up the right infrastructure to manage the population.
- Unpack the 2019 MACRA proposal. Join us on Thursday, August 16 at 3:00 p.m. ET, to hear our summary and the implications of the most important proposed changes for 2019, including key policies in the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and the Advanced Alternative Payment Model (APM) track.