Collaborative Health Systems Issues Statement on the Evolution of CMMI Accountable Care Models

TAMPA, Fla., Feb. 28, 2022 - Collaborative Health Systems (CHS) today issued the following statement on the evolution of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Innovation Center (CMMI) accountable care models.

Collaborative Health Systems is encouraged by the recent announcement from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to continue the Direct Contracting program for 2023 under the new name of Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health (REACH) Model. The changes announced align the ACO REACH program more closely with our existing operations and goals. CHS has been at the forefront of provider-led, value-based care models since its inception and believes this model continues the evolution of ACOs. We are supportive of CMS' efforts to develop and test with different models that advance providers and the entire healthcare system.

Overall, we feel ACOs assuming higher levels of clinical and financial responsibility are critical components in enabling a model to succeed. CMS made important changes to the model that ensure ACOs have a higher level of provider governance as well as a greater impact on equity, access, and community health. All of these are important attributes of CHS' operations. We look forward to working with CMS as it makes these and further improvements that allow participating provider groups to continue improving quality and outcomes while simultaneously lowering the cost of care. For nearly a decade, CHS has enabled provider partners to succeed in Medicare value-based care models, consistently improving quality and achieving $475 million in total savings to the Medicare program since 2012.