More Payers Jump Into Value-Based Medicare Advantage Plans in 2020

The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) estimates that more private payers will enroll in Medicare Advantage's voluntary value-based insurance design (VBID) in 2020, reports MedCity News . Participating organizations will increase from 10 to 14, concurrent with a doubling of beneficiaries from 440,000 this year to 1.2 million next year. Coverage also will expand from seven states to 30 states and Puerto Rico. A CMS report found nine of 23 eligible organizations participated in the VBID model two years ago, and 61 percent of the 96,000 beneficiaries that qualified for the new model received VBID benefits. In January, CMS extended the VBID model to plans in all 50 states, and made revisions to permit participating organizations to design plans according to socioeconomic status or health condition, offer rewards and incentives programs, provide telehealth services, and better coordinate wellness and care planning. Beginning in 2021, CMS will start testing the inclusion of the Medicare hospice benefit in Medicare Advantage plans, and Medicare Advantage organizations that wish to participate in the VBID model then have until June 1 to finalize their plan benefit designs.