Statement attributable to:
Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH
President, American Medical Association
“The movement toward value-based care—designing payment models to support quality and coordination of patient care rather than the number of services delivered—is gaining momentum. We must build on that progress with more investment in these models and ensure that physicians in all specialties can be active participants in alternative payment models (APMs). The American Medical Association applauds Reps. Darin LaHood (R-IL), Suzan DelBene (D-WA), Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Larry Bucshon, M.D. (R-IN), and Kim Schrier, M.D. (D-WA) for introducing the Value in Health Care Act (PDF). This crucial bipartisan bill will continue the 5 percent APM incentive payments for two years and freeze the 50 percent revenue threshold that physicians in value-based care models must meet to qualify for these bonuses over the same time frame. Importantly, the legislation would give the secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) the authority to further increase the revenue threshold but at a more gradual pace—no more than 5 percent in a given year. These proposed policies would grant HHS the needed flexibility to adjust the financial risk at a pace that enables more physicians to participate in APMs, while building on the tremendous movement toward value-based care."
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About the American Medical Association
The American Medical Association is the physicians’ powerful ally in patient care. As the only medical association that convenes 190+ state and specialty medical societies and other critical stakeholders, the AMA represents physicians with a unified voice to all key players in health care. The AMA leverages its strength by removing the obstacles that interfere with patient care, leading the charge to prevent chronic disease and confront public health crises and, driving the future of medicine to tackle the biggest challenges in health care.
