10 | Federal Efforts to Overhaul the Way We Pay for Primary Care, Explained

Earlier this year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it would invite medical practices to voluntarily participate in new payment models for primary care in the Medicare program. The initiative is called Primary Cares, and its goals are to reduce Medicare spending and improve both the quality of and access to primary care for Medicare beneficiaries—especially for those with complex, chronic conditions and serious illness. CMS officials believe that the new payment models could affect as many as 11 million Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries and an estimated one in four primary care practitioners. In light of that announcement, I invited three primary care experts from Mathematica to explain the latest push by CMS to change primary care through new payment models. My guests are Jeffrey Ballou, Eugene Rich, and Julie Schilz, who have the combined experience and expertise of a health economist, a general internist, a medical practice leader, a registered nurse, and a former senior executive at a national health insurance company. We also have a condensed Q&A version of the conversation available here: https://www.mathematica-mpr.com/commentary/federal-efforts-to-overhaul-the-way-we-pay-for-primary-care-explained