Premier announced it joined 12 organization in urging HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra to extend the Next Generation ACO Model (NGACO) through 2022 and create a permanent full risk ACO option based on NGACO for the future. The model is currently slated to end in 2021.
The groups underscore the pressing need for the agency to act immediately in light of CMS’ announcement last week that it will no longer seek new participants for the Direct Contracting Model, which could have offered current NGACO participants a path forward in risk-based models.
Finally, the groups point to recent data demonstrating the significant savings NGACO participants have achieved against their benchmarks and encourage the Biden Administration to revisit its model evaluations to more accurately capture these savings and recognize the model’s impact on improving quality and patient experience.
The letter follows on the heels of Premier’s statement last week urging CMMI to build on the successes of the NGACO Model by scaling the program to expand the number of providers that can take on a high level of risk.
