Payer Learning & Action Network to Launch State-Based Initiative
CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure has announced the launch of a state-based initiative for the Health Care Payment Learning & Action Network (LAN) to accelerate the movement toward advanced payment models. The LAN also released the results from its 2020 and 2021 APM Measurement Efforts, measuring 2019 and 2020 data.
The LAN, launched in March 2015 by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), brings together public, private, and non-profit sectors to link health care payments to quality and value through the increased adoption of alternative payment models (APMs).
“CMS is excited to announce that the LAN will be embarking on a new strategic initiative, the State Transformation Collaboratives, which will bring CMS and local stakeholders to the table to support locally driven health care transformation efforts that are prioritizing the needs of states and their communities,” said Brooks-LaSure, in a statement. “The State Transformation Collaboratives will start in the following states: Arkansas, California, Colorado and North Carolina. These are states with significant opportunity to impact health equity and with substantial momentum around alternative payment models.”
At the 2021 Virtual LAN Summit, Brooks-La-Sure said that as the nation recovers from the public health emergency, a renewed sense of opportunity is palpable – a collective hope that we can learn from COVID-19 to build a better health system that is more responsive to rising costs, inconsistent outcomes, and inadequate access.
Recognizing the impact of the COVID-19 public health emergency on the health care industry, the LAN adjusted its regular Measurement Effort cycle, giving health plans and participating states the opportunity to respond to the survey on a timeline that made sense to the participants’ business operations.
The LAN reported both 2019 and 2020 APM data concurrently. The report released today by the LAN reported on two years of data, showing that 38.2 percent of total U.S. healthcare payments in 2019 and 40.9 percent in 2020 were tied to APMs in LAN categories 3 and 4. The report, which represents the largest and most comprehensive measurement effort of its kind, indicates the percentage of healthcare payments tied to APMs have increased over the past two years from 35.8 percent in 2018.
This progress is part of a continuing, big-picture trend in healthcare payment reform since the LAN was established in 2015. Six years ago, one-quarter of healthcare payments flowed through an APM, and today it is over one-third.
Additionally, among payers surveyed in the 2021 Measurement Effort, 92 percent of respondents believe APM adoption will result in better quality of care, and 85 percent believe it will result in more affordable care; the readiness and interest of health plans, government, and providers will all help facilitate adoption.
In 2021, an informational question was added to better understand if and how health plans are leveraging value-based provider arrangements to incentivize the reduction of health disparities. Among payers surveyed, 58 percent collect standardized socio-demographic data, 41 percent measure health disparities by stratifying along socio-demographic data, and 30 percent use these value-based arrangements to improve patient experience for targeted populations.
