The Seriously Ill Population (SIP) Medicare Payment Model Terminated

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) has announced today (November 30, 2021) that the component of the Medicare Primary Care First alternative payment model, the Seriously Ill Population (SIP) option, will definitely not move forward. CMMI had originally accepted applications for the SIP model in January 2020, and was expected to launch April 1, 2021. However, last March, CMMI notified applicants that the model is ‘under review’, leaving an indefinite timeframe for the model to launch. Now, CMMI acknowledges the impracticality of the planned beneficiary recruitment approach, and has decided to not proceed with the first Medicare model that would have paid for interdisciplinary care in the community for beneficiaries with serious illness. CMMI notes that they remain “committed to testing interventions focused on improving care” for this population, which may be either through existing models or new ones.