News: CMS cancels two mandatory bundled payment programs after delays

CMS now plans to cancel two mandatory bundled payment programs, according to a new rule title posted to the Federal Register on August 10. The two rules, the Advancing Care Coordination through Episode Payment Models and the Cardiac Rehabilitation Incentive Payment Models, were set to take effect in 2018.

The cancellation comes after two delays to the implementation of these rules. The first delay moved the implementation date from February 18 to March 21, 2017; the second moved the date from July 1 to October 1, 2017.

Implicitly, this cancelation seems to be linked to the new administration’s mission to “reduce administrative burden.” Health and Human Service Secretary Tom Price, MD, was also no fan of the canceled bundled payments. In a 2016 letter to CMS, Price wrote that the cardiac bundles would lead to providers consolidating and turning away Medicare beneficiaries, according to Cardiovascular Business.

“Medicare providers and their patients are blindly being forced into high-risk government-dictated reforms with unknown impacts,” he wrote. “Any true medical experiment requires patient consent. However, patients residing in an affected geographical area will have no choice about their participation.”

The rule has not been officially withdrawn yet, but it is set to be finalized on January 1, 2018.

Editor’s note: To read ACDIS’ coverage of the delays, click here. To read the coverage from Cardiovascular Business, click here. To read an exposé from the RAC Monitor, click here.