CONTACT:Karen Ferguson(703) 838-0033, ext. [email protected]
June 5, 2015
Statement from AMGA Regarding Medicare Shared Savings Program Final RuleWASHINGTON – Late yesterday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) put on display a final rule that makes refinements to the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP). The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) worked with a group of stakeholders to develop comments to address the operational and financial challenges in the regulatory framework of the program and submitted a comment letter on behalf of its 135 member MSSP participants earlier this year.CMS made important programmatic changes in the final rule. AMGA was pleased to see modifications allowing Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) in the MSSP to remain in Track 1 for another three-year agreement period at the same minimum savings rate, if they are in good standing with the program. Other provisions will streamline the administrative burden for beneficiaries to opt-out of data sharing, and finalize alternative methodologies for establishing ACO benchmarks, though CMS states that benchmarking will be the subject of additional rulemaking. CMS also finalized its proposed Track 3 option, which provides a higher rate of shared savings for ACOs taking downside risk.Donald W. Fisher, Ph.D., CAE, president and chief executive officer of AMGA, stated: “We appreciate CMS’ willingness to make refinements to the MSSP in order to encourage greater participation, and many of the finalized provisions should do just that. AMGA is disappointed to see that CMS did very little to expand the use of waivers that would allow all ACOs to provide better coordinated care to their beneficiaries, however. Generally, ACOs continue to need greater operational and financial improvements to the MSSP program to provide reasonable opportunities for success. We look forward to working with CMS to continue to improve this important program.”AMGA is doing a thorough analysis of the final rule and will provide a full summary to members in the near future. A CMS Fact Sheet, Press Release, and the display copy of the final rule are all available online. The final rule will be published in the Federal Register on June 9, 2015.About AMGAThe American Medical Group Association is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing medical groups, health systems, and other organized systems of care, including some of the nation's largest, most prestigious integrated delivery systems. AMGA is a leading voice in advocating for efficient, team-based, and accountable care. AMGA members encompass all models of organized systems of care in the healthcare industry, including: physician-owned, independent group practices, integrated delivery systems, hospital-affiliated medical groups, independent practice associations (IPAs), academic and faculty practices, accountable care organizations, and high-performing health systems. More than 170,000 physicians practice in AMGA member organizations, providing healthcare services for 120 million patients (approximately one in three Americans). Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, AMGA is the strategic partner for these organizations, providing a comprehensive package of benefits, including political advocacy, educational and networking programs, publications, benchmarking data services, and financial and operations assistance. www.amga.org
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