A voluntary payment model announced Wednesday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services could put home care within reach for more Medicare beneficiaries, the agency said.
The Geographic Direct Contracting Model, CMS said, is designed to improve health outcomes and reduce the cost of care for Medicare beneficiaries in multiple regions and communities across the country. Participating providers will take responsibility for beneficiaries’ health outcomes, giving them a direct incentive to improve care across entire geographic regions, CMS said. Within each region, organizations with experience in risk-sharing arrangements and population health will partner with healthcare providers and community organizations in an effort to improve care coordination.
Direct contracting agencies will have the option to offer enhanced Medicare benefits, such as:
- Home visits for beneficiaries following a discharge from an inpatient hospital, psychiatric facility, inpatient rehabilitation facility, long-term care hospital or skilled nursing facility;
- Home visits for care management; and
- Increased access to home healthcare by waiving the homebound requirement for access to home health services in Medicare.
“The need to strengthen the Medicare program by moving to a system that aligns financial incentives to pay for keeping people healthy has long been a priority,” CMS Administrator Seema Verma said. “This model allows participating entities to build integrated relationships to better coordinate care, improve quality, and lower the cost of care for Medicare beneficiaries in a community.
