The AAMC joined over 800 other physician and health care associations, health systems, provider practices, and accountable care organizations (ACOs) in a Sept. 28 letter urging congressional leadership to extend the 5% Advanced Alternative Payment Model (APM) incentive payments in the Medicare program.
The letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) reminded the leaders that, without congressional action, the 5% APM incentive payments set forth in the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (P.L. 114-10) will expire at the end of 2022. “This development would reduce reimbursements and serve as a disincentive to nearly 300,000 clinicians working to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of care for millions of Medicare beneficiaries,” the signatories stated.
The organizations noted that the incentive payments provide encouragement for providers to enter APMs and that ACOs use those payments to expand beyond offerings in traditional fee-for-service models. The letter concluded by stating that this policy change would “give our organizations the flexibility and financial security needed to innovate care, improve the health of our populations, and lower health care costs.”