Dear Administrator Verma:
The Healthcare Leaders for Accountable Innovation in Medicare and Medicaid (AIM)
coalition is pleased to share our perspective with you on the “Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services: Innovation Center New Direction” Request for Information (RFI).
We believe there is a vital and appropriate role the Center for Medicare and Medicaid
Innovation (CMMI) can and should play in advancing healthcare delivery.
AIM, a coalition representing patients, hospitals, physicians, and healthcare leaders,
formed last year to encourage policy makers to address concerns regarding CMMI that
arose among those who deliver and depend upon quality healthcare, as well as
members of Congress of both parties. These concerns focused on proposed large scale demonstration projects that can affect significant portions of the nation’s healthcare system and have unintended consequences for patients, the need for
consistent collaboration with providers, the patient community, and the private sector in
selecting and implementing new payment and delivery models; and the imperative to
maintain vigilant monitoring and quality measurement. The AIM coalition believes
strongly in dynamic innovation that strengthens patient access to care and that offers
the promise of a Medicare and Medicaid program defined by quality, value, and
exemplary patient health outcomes.
Earlier this year, the group developed a set of principles to improve CMMI. The
principles call for a CMMI that, among other improvements and safeguards, engages in
appropriately-scaled, time-limited demonstration projects, greater transparency,
improved data-sharing, and broader collaboration with the private sector. Adoption of
these principles can help to ensure that demonstrations are widely embraced and
supported, a contrast to recent episodes that saw widespread resistance from patients
and the healthcare community.
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Read full letter here
