Barrasso, Whitehouse Introduce Legislation Improving Quality of Care for America’s Seniors

U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) introduced the Preserving Access to Value Based Care Act Wednesday. The bipartisan legislation ensures health care providers through Medicare continue to commit to value-based models, or Alternative Payment Models (APMs). This program reimburses providers for the quality of care, rather than the number of services they provide. Physicians who participate in APMs overwhelmingly agree that value-based care delivers high quality care.

The bill will extend the five percent advanced APM incentive payment for providers for an additional two years. The bill also ensures that qualification thresholds remain at attainable levels for practices that participate in Medicare’s advanced APMs. This incentive-based payment is set to expire at the end of 2022 if Congress does not extend the program.

Senator Barrasso said that as a doctor, he knows how critical it is for Medicare to meet the health care needs of American seniors and there is an agreement on both sides of the aisle that Alternative Payment Models are a key solution to help more seniors receive better care at a lower cost. Barrasso said the bipartisan legislation will ensure this incentive program continues to help provide the highest quality of care for seniors across the country.