Under the model, healthcare providers — which CMS calls “direct contracting entities,” or DCEs — will competitively bid to manage 100% of the Medicare Part A and Part B costs for a certain number of Medicare beneficiaries within a geographic region, starting at a minimum of 30,000 enrollees. Who can be a DCE? “We anticipate interest from organizations that have significant experience taking risk in value-based care models including sophisticated Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), health systems, health care provider groups and health plans,” CMS said in a fact sheet about the new model. “We also anticipate some applications might include innovative partnerships between health plans and health care providers.” Providers who join one of the DCEs will still be able to stay in any other value-based care programs they’re already in, including ACOs and Medicare Shared Savings Plans.
Source: Direct Contracting Model Comes to Medicare
