The Hill reports on a proposal that is floating in Congress to change Medicare payment methodologies that has an unusual and perhaps effective set of sponsors behind it:
New legislation from Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and Reps. Erik Paulsen (R-Minn.) and Peter Welch (D-Vt.) would attempt to improve care for chronically ill seniors by revamping how their providers are paid.
Under the bill, voluntary “Better Care” plans and practices would specialize in treating patients with multiple chronic conditions. In return, they would receive specially tailored payments that reward good outcomes.
AARP backed the legislation in a statement, noting that 75 percent of healthcare dollars are spent on chronic disease.
“It is important to better coordinate and improve the quality of care for these individuals … rather than to just ask individuals to continue to pay more for their healthcare,” said AARP Legislative Policy Director David Certner in a statement.
The proposal seems to be a low strings attached capitation model with risk adjustments based on member age and pre-exisiting health conditions. The AP has some more details: