Growing Signals for a Serious Illness Medicare Payment Model
Chris Smith Ritter, Ph.D, the Director of the Patient Models Group for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), announced on June 9 at a LeadingAge conference that the Center is “hopeful to be moving forward with something” in the palliative care space. This comment comes on the heels of CMMI’s announcement in March that they are delaying the Seriously Ill Population component of the Primary Care First alternative payment model. Despite that delay, CMMI representatives continue to express interest in the Medicare population living with serious illness and the power of palliative care to improve both quality and value.
The National Coalition for Hospice and Palliative Care continues to advocate for a country-wide, community-based Medicare payment model to ensure access to palliative care for those beneficiaries in need. As information becomes available, CAPC will inform its audiences.