PCC Joins 800 Stakeholders, Urging Congress to Renew Advanced Payment Model Incentives

PCC joined more than 800 health care associations, accountable care organizations (ACOs), medical practices, and health systems to urge Congressional leaders to extend incentive payments meant to encourage participation in risk-bearing alternative payment models (APMs), in a letter released on September 28, 2022. Those incentives expire at the end of the year unless Congress acts.

Congress in 2015 created a 5 percent incentive payment to support  new payment models. While there are nearly 300,000 clinicians expected to receive the incentive this year, that number is far below Congressional expectations when the incentives were established. Therefore, the letter calls on lawmakers to extend the incentives to allow more time for a greater number of practices to move into APMs, which have shown an ability to improve quality and lower overall cost of care. 

Failure to renew the incentives could deter participation in a range of primary care payment reform initiatives, including the Primary Care First, state primary care payment reform initiatives like the Maryland Primary Care Program, the Medicare Shared Savings Program, and private sector primary care initiatives. “Ending these important incentive payments would discourage future participation in models that have seen growing uptake in recent years,” the letter states. “The incentive payments...provide additional resources that can be used to expand services beyond traditional fee-for-service.” 

Read the full letter here.