CMS has announced that has reached its goal of tying 30% of Medicare payments to alternative payment models that reward quality of care rather than volume of service — 11 months ahead of the target CMS set last year. Specifically, CMS determined that the addition of 121 new accountable care organizations (ACOs) in the Medicare Shared Savings Program and greater participation in other CMS models pushed Medicare payments under alternative payment models to $117 billion out of a projected $380 billion in Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) payments as of January 2016. At the same time, CMS observes that there has been an acceleration in innovation by state Medicaid programs and private payers, including HHS partners in the Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network.
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