Building on the Biden-Harris Administration’s priorities for a better health care system, today the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a redesigned Accountable Care Organization (ACO) model that better reflects the agency’s vision of creating a health system that achieves equitable outcomes through high quality, affordable, person-centered care. The ACO Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health (REACH) Model, a redesign of the Global and Professional Direct Contracting (GPDC) Model, addresses stakeholder feedback, participant experience, and Administration priorities, including CMS’ commitment to advancing health equity.

In addition to transitioning the GPDC Model to the ACO REACH Model, CMS is canceling the Geographic Direct Contracting Model (also known as the “Geo Model”) effective immediately. The Geographic Direct Contracting Model, which was announced in December 2020, was paused in March 2021 in response to stakeholder concerns.

“The Biden-Harris Administration remains committed to promoting value-based care that improves the health care experience of people with Medicare, Medicaid and Marketplace coverage,” said CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. “To fulfill that commitment, CMS, through the Innovation Center, is testing new models of health care service delivery and payment to improve the quality of care that people receive, including those in underserved communities. The Innovation Center is making improvements to existing models and launching new models to increase participation in our portfolio, and CMS will be a strong collaborator to health care providers that participate in those models.” 

As CMS works to achieve the vision outlined for the next decade of the Innovation Center, CMS wants to work with partners who share its vision and values for improving patient care, guided by three key principles. First, any model that CMS tests within Traditional Medicare must ensure that beneficiaries retain all rights that are afforded to them, including freedom of choice of all Medicare-enrolled providers and suppliers. Second, CMS must have confidence that any model it tests works to promote greater equity in the delivery of high-quality services. Third, CMS expects models to extend their reach into underserved communities to improve access to services and quality outcomes. Models that do not meet these core principles will be redesigned or will not move forward.

Consistent with these principles, the ACO REACH Model, tested under the CMS Innovation Center’s authority, will adhere to the following priorities: a greater focus on health equity and closing disparities in care; an emphasis on provider-led organizations and strengthening beneficiary voices to guide the work of model participants; stronger beneficiary protections through ensuring robust compliance with model requirements; increased screening of model applicants, and increased monitoring of model participants; greater transparency and data sharing on care quality and financial performance of model participants; and stronger protections against inappropriate coding and risk score growth.

The ACO REACH Model builds on CMS’ ten years of experience with accountable care initiatives, such as the Medicare Shared Savings Program, the Pioneer ACO Model, and the Next Generation ACO Model. The ACO REACH Model provides novel tools and resources for health care providers to work together more closely to improve the quality of care for people with Traditional Medicare.  To help advance health equity, the ACO REACH Model will require all participating ACOs to have a robust plan describing how they will meet the needs of people with Traditional Medicare in underserved communities and make measurable changes to address health disparities.  Additionally, under the ACO REACH Model, CMS will use an innovative payment approach to better support care delivery and coordination for people in underserved communities.

REACH ACOs will be responsible for helping all different types of health care providers — including primary and specialty care physicians — work together, so people get the care they need when they need it. In addition, people with Traditional Medicare who receive care through a REACH ACO may have greater access to enhanced benefits, such as telehealth visits, home care after leaving the hospital, and help with co-pays. They can expect the support of the REACH ACO to help them navigate an often complex health system.

“CMS is testing a redesigned model because accountable care organizations make it possible for people in Traditional Medicare to receive greater support managing their chronic diseases, facilitate smoother transitions from the hospital to their homes, and ensure beneficiaries receive preventive care that keeps them healthy,” said CMS Deputy Administrator and Director of the CMS Innovation Center Liz Fowler, PhD, JD. “Under the ACO REACH Model, health care providers can receive more predictable revenue and use those dollars more flexibly to meet their patients’ needs — and to be more resilient in the face of health challenges like the current public health pandemic. The bottom line is that ACOs can improve health care quality and make people healthier, which can also lead to lower total costs of care.”

The GPDC Model will continue until December 31, 2022 and then will transition to the ACO REACH Model. In the meantime, CMS will operate the GPDC Model with more robust and real-time monitoring of quality and costs for model participants. GPDC Model participants that do not meet model requirements, such as participants that restrict medically necessary care, will face corrective action and potential termination from the model.

The first performance year of the redesigned ACO REACH Model will start on January 1, 2023, and the model performance period will run through 2026. CMS is releasing a Request for Applications for provider-led organizations interested in joining the ACO REACH Model. Current participants in the GPDC Model must agree to meet all the ACO REACH Model requirements by January 1, 2023 in order to participate.

For a fact sheet on the ACO REACH Model, visit: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/accountable-care-organization-aco-realizing-equity-access-and-community-health-reach-model

A comparison table of ACO REACH and GPDC is available at:  https://innovation.cms.gov/media/document/gpdc-aco-reach-comparison

More information on the ACO REACH Model is available at: https://innovation.cms.gov/innovation-models/aco-reach.

More information on the Global and Professional Direct Contracting Model—including information on model participants for the 2021 and 2022 performance years, and performance and quality data for the 2021 performance year—is available at: https://innovation.cms.gov/innovation-models/gpdc-model. 

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