Dear Senators Portman and Bennet:
We are writing to convey our strong support for S.966, “The Medicare Care Coordination
Improvement Act of 2019.” Your legislation would substantially improve care coordination
for patients, improve health outcomes and restrain costs by allowing physicians to
participate and succeed in alternative payment models.
The bill would modernize the “Stark” self-referral law that was enacted nearly 30 years ago
and pose barriers to care coordination. The Stark Law prohibits payment arrangements
that consider the volume or value of referrals or other business generated by the parties.
These prohibitions stifle care delivery innovation by inhibiting practices from incentivizing
their physicians to deliver patient care more effectively and efficiently because the
practices cannot use resources from designated health services in rewarding or penalizing
adherence to clinical guidelines and treatment pathways.
Congress recognized the Stark Law was a barrier to care coordination long ago when it
authorized the Secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to waive
the self-referral and anti-kickback prohibitions for Accountable Care Organizations.
MACRA’s full potential can only be achieved by modernizer this law for physician-led APMs as well.
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