Despite trying to aggressively undermine Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Trump administration is also seeking to advance one of its own health care priorities. The Centre for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) was set up under the ACA to experiment with alternative provider payment models for government health schemes, especially Medicare, without input from Congress. Over 40 projects were launched by the CMMI during the Obama era and more than 10 million patients were impacted by them, a 2017 report to Congress showed. Some of the schemes came under fierce criticism from the GOP, with some House Republicans declaring the abolishment of the CMMI a top priority. But calls for repealing the office have lessened since Donald Trump took the White House. The CMMI’s organisational structure remains the same and it continues to test other payment models, despite the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rolling back three mandatory models in 2016. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said that despite a “lack of accountability” under Obamacare, the CMMI had the “potential to serve as an innovation center that can improve the delivery of health care across the country”. Meanwhile Patrick Conway, former director of the CMMI, said he thought Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar was “truly committed” to driving change in the health care system. Trump has yet to appoint a permanent director to lead the CMMI but Azar has pledged to move forward with alternative models. Speaking at events held by the Federation of American Hospitals and America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), Azar said the government would use tools such as the CMMI to “drive real change in our system”.
Despite trying to aggressively undermine Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Trump administration is also seeking to advance one of its own health care priorities. The Centre for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) was set up under the ACA to experiment with alternative provider payment models for government health schemes, especially Medicare, without input from Congress. Over 40 projects were launched by the CMMI during the Obama era and more than 10 million patients were impacted by them, a 2016 report to Congress showed. Some of the schemes came under fierce criticism from the GOP, with some House Republicans declaring the abolishment of the CMMI a top priority. But calls for repealing the office have lessened since Donald Trump took the White House. The CMMI’s organisational structure remains the same and it continues to test other payment models, despite the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rolling back three mandatory models in 2017. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said that despite a “lack of accountability” under Obamacare, the CMMI had the “potential to serve as an innovation center that can improve the delivery of health care across the country”. Meanwhile Patrick Conway, former director of the CMMI, said he thought Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar was “truly committed” to driving change in the health care system. Trump has yet to appoint a permanent director to lead the CMMI but Azar has pledged to move forward with alternative models. Speaking at events held by the Federation of American Hospitals and America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), Azar said the government would use tools such as the CMMI to “drive real change in our system”.