vbidcenter

Today, the House Republicans released their Report from the Health Care Reform Task Force, a white paper outlining a number of policy proposals they believe will lower health care spending and deliver higher quality care.  Notably, the proposal recommends allowing for the implementation of value-based insurance design (V-BID) throughout Medicare Advantage (see full text below) as a potential solution to 'one-size-fits-all' deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance. This expanded role of V-BID in the Medicare Program builds on bipartisan legislation that passed in the House last summer (HR 2750), the CMS MA-VBID demonstration project set to begin in seven states this January, and the inclusion of V-BID principles in Section 2713 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that requires the elimination of consumer cost-sharing for specified preventive care services. Report Language Page 33:  "Today's traditional fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare program isolates beneficiaries from the true cost of health care.  For example, Medigap policies provide something called first-dollar [...]

Access to prescription drugs is a hot-button health care issue. The V-BID center proposes an innovative benefit design - 'Reward the Good Soldier'.

On Tuesday, March 8th, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a rule that would test a new way for Medicare Part B to pay for prescription drugs.  The proposal includes value-based insurance design (V-BID) principles of discounting or eliminating cost-sharing and varying payments for drugs based on clinical effectiveness for different indicators (clinical nuance). CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt stated, "These proposals would allow us to test different ways to help Medicare beneficiaries get the right medications and right care while supporting physicians in the process.  This is consistent with our focus on testing value-based care models like we have been doing with physicians and hospitals in ACOs.  Models like this one can help doctors and other clinicians do what they do best: choose the medicine and treatment that keeps their patients healthy." Read more on V-BID in the Medicare program.