Arkansas has been a leader in the transition to value-based payment for healthcare services, with a majority of the state’s providers now delivering care under the state’s multi-payer PCMH program and episodes-of-care model. The state has been successful in this transition by optimizing innovation opportunities offered by the federal government and leading value-based payment efforts in both public and private sectors. After several years of testing various value-based payment models across the states, the federal government has established a goal of having a majority of Medicare payments tied to value and quality by 2018. Recent federal legislation, the Medicare Access and Chip Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015, drastically changes the way that Medicare pays for healthcare services and authorizes initiatives to achieve value-based payment objectives.
This brief provides background information on the MACRA legislation, describes the Medicare Quality Payment Program (QPP) initiative enabled by MACRA, and potential impacts for Arkansas.
