Pathways to Payment Innovation in a Post-Health Reform Era

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 contain a number of changes in the way health care is paid for, particularly in public programs. Delivery system changes intended to improve quality and contain costs will, at the same time, impact the revenues of health care providers.

This May 10 briefing fully explored the major payment initiatives in the new law and their potential effects. Cosponsored by the Alliance for Health Reform and The Commonwealth Fund, a philanthropy based in New York City and Washington, DC.

Topics of discussion included immediate effects of the laws, how the legislation addresses public and private health insurance coverage, and changes in payment and delivery system models. What role can payment changes play in moving health care away from the current fee-for-service system towards value-based reimbursements? What can be learned from earlier public and private efforts to better align payment incentives with program goals? How will the new Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation work to test new approaches, and then scale up the successful ones? How will HHS and Congress relate to each other in this new area?

Panelists were: Mark Miller, executive director of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC); Gail Wilensky, a senior fellow at Project HOPE and former chairman of MedPAC; Stuart Guterman, The Commonwealth Fund’s assistant vice president for Payment System Reform; and Nick Wolter, CEO of the Billings Clinic in Montana. Ed Howard of the Alliance moderated. A detailed timeline of health reform implementation dates constructed by The Commonwealth Fund helped set the briefing’s context.

Transcript

Full Transcript (Adobe Acrobat PDF)

Speaker Presentations

Stuart Guterman Presentation (PowerPoint),
Nick Wolter Presentation (PowerPoint)

Event Details

Agenda (Adobe Acrobat PDF)
Speaker Biographies (Adobe Acrobat PDF)