The latest CMS "innovation model" focuses on options for redesigning Medicare Advantage (MA) to improve health outcomes while reducing expenditures. Specifically, the Medicare Advantage Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) Model will allow MA plans in seven states to apply to offer supplemental benefits or reduced cost sharing to enrollees with specified chronic conditions. The five-year initiative will begin January 1, 2017 in Arizona, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. The model will focus on the following chronic conditions: diabetes, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), past stroke, hypertension, coronary artery disease, mood disorders, and combinations of these categories. Examples of tailored supplemental benefits include elimination of eye examination copayments for beneficiaries with diabetes or extra tobacco cessation assistance for enrollees with COPD. The model will test whether this approach can improve health outcomes and lower expenditures for MA enrollees.

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