On July 9, 2015, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services ("CMS") announced a proposed rule to test a new payment model, the
Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement ("CCJR"), for
hip and knee replacements (also called lower extremity joint
replacements or "LEJRs") (the "CCJR Proposed
Rule"). The average Medicare expenditures for LEJRs,
including surgery, hospitalization, and recovery, can range from
$16,500 to $33,000. The CCJR Proposed Rule is designed to test
bundled payment models and hold certain hospitals that do not
otherwise participate in the Bundled Payment for Care Improvement
("BPCI") initiative financially accountable for the
quality and cost of care provided to Medicare beneficiaries. BPCI
is a demonstration project being conducted by the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Innovation ("CMMI") to test the
effects of episode-based payment.
Previously, on January 26, 2015, Health and Human Services
("HHS") Secretary Burwell announced an aggressive
timeline to transition 30 percent of traditional Medicare
fee-for-service payments to an alternative payment models by 2016.
This CCJR Proposed Rule evidences the federal government's
continued efforts toward its goal of meeting its ambitious timeline
for risk-based payment model and to increase coordination among
doctors, hospitals, health care professionals, and suppliers, while
improving quality of care for and accountability to patients.
As discussed in more detail below, many elements of the CCJR model
incorporate guidelines and requirements from the ongoing BPCI
initiative.
Mandatory Participation and Proposed Timeframes
Unlike the voluntary, application-based BPCI initiative, the
proposed CCJR model requires hospitals that are located in
75 specified geographic areas in 33 states to participate in this
bundled payment reimbursement model. Each of the specified
geographic areas, defined by Metropolitan Statistical Areas
("MSAs"), has a core urban population of 50,000 or more
and had at least 400 eligible lower extremity joint replacement
cases for Medicare beneficiaries between July 2013 and June 2014.
All hospitals located in the selected MSAs that do not currently
participate in Model 1 of the BPCI or in phase II of Model 2 or
Model 4 of the BPCI for the MS-DRGs 469 and 470 (the lower
extremity joint replacement clinical episodes) are mandatorily
required to participate in the CCJR model. A list of proposed
geographic regions is available on the CMS website. No application is required for
participation within the identified geographic areas.
The CCJR model, a five-year payment model, is proposed to be
implemented on January 1, 2016.
CCJR Model Design and Pricing
Like Model 2 of the BPCI initiative, CCJR is a
"retrospective bundled payment model" designed to promote
accountability for the cost and quality of patient care by
reconciling the actual health care spend for an episode of care
("Episode of Care") against a predetermined target price.
For CCJR, an Episode of Care is initiated by an inpatient admission
billed under MS DRG 469 or 470 of an eligible Medicare
fee-for-service beneficiary to the hospital and continues for 90
days following discharge. The Episode of Care would include all
related items and services paid under Medicare Part A and Part B
for all Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries, including
physicians' services, inpatient hospital service, readmissions
(subject to limited exceptions), skilled nursing facility services,
durable medical equipment, and Part B drugs.
Prior to the start of each performance year, CMS will set a target
price for each hospital for each of the two Episodes of Care. The
target price generally will include a 2 percent discount over
expected episode spending, and it incorporates a blend of
hospital-specific and regional spending for knee and joint
replacement episodes. Over time, regional Medicare costs will weigh
more heavily in the target price mix.
During an Episode of Care, all providers and suppliers providing
Medicare Part A and Part B services will continue to be paid under
the current Medicare fee-for-service payment system. Following the
completion of a CCJR performance year, hospitals that achieve
actual spending below the target price per Episode of Care
and meet certain quality performance thresholds will
receive a reconciliation payment from CMS for the difference
between the target price and actual episode spending, subject to a
cap. Starting from the second CCJR performance year, participant
hospitals that exceed their target price for the Episode of Care
will be responsible for paying the difference to CMS. As noted
above, to qualify for a reconciliation payment from CMS, hospitals
must also meet the quality performance standards, which are based
on the following measures: complications, readmissions, and patient
experience surveys. For each CCJR performance year, the quality
requirements will be adjusted to encourage and improve
hospitals' performance.
Payment Waivers
Similar to the BPCI initiative, the proposed CCJR model includes waivers of certain existing payment system requirements to promote timely, cost-effective, and accessible care. These waivers include the requirement for a three-day inpatient hospital stay prior to admission for a covered skilled nursing facility admission (the three-day stay rule), allowing payment for physician-directed home visits for non-homebound beneficiaries without meeting certain direct supervision requirements and allowing payment for certain physician visits to a beneficiary in his or her home via telehealth.
Financial Arrangements
As part of the CCJR model, although hospitals are not required
to do so, CMS anticipates that many hospitals may want to enter
into certain financial arrangements with other providers and
suppliers (generally referred in the CCJR Proposed Rule as
"Collaborators") who are engaged in care redesign and
provide services as part of the continuum of care. The CCJR
Proposed Rule permits participating hospitals and Collaborators to
enter into sharing arrangements for the following: a hospital's
internal cost savings, net reconciliation payment amounts (shared
savings) from CMS, and a hospital's responsibility to repay
CMS. As proposed, these sharing arrangements permit Collaborators
to receive "gainsharing" or "alignment"
payments provided certain requirements are met. A
"gainsharing" payment refers to an amount distributed
from a hospital to a Collaborator. An "alignment" payment
refers to an amount distributed from a Collaborator to a hospital
(e.g., to help repay shared losses owed to CMS).
A gainsharing payment to a Collaborator must be distributed on an
annual basis pursuant to an agreement that satisfies the required
elements for a sharing arrangement. For instance, the calculation,
distribution, and frequency of distribution of gainsharing payments
must be identified in the agreement and administered in accordance
with generally accepted accounting principles. Any internal cost
savings distributed as a gainsharing payment must be based upon the
measurable, actual, and verifiable hospital internal cost savings
achieved through care redesign activities and "may not reflect
'paper' savings from accounting conventions or past
investment in fixed costs." CCJR Proposed Rule at 41264. The
aggregate amount of gainsharing payments distributed by hospitals
to Collaborators cannot exceed the reconciliation amount received
from CMS. As with the BPCI initiative, the total amount of an
annual gainsharing payment paid to an individual physician or
non-physician practitioner who is a Collaborator must not exceed 50
percent of the total Medicare-approved amounts under the Physician
Fee Schedule for services furnished during an Episode of
Care.
The CCJR Proposed Rule also sets forth limits on an alignment
payment from Collaborators to a participant hospital for repayments
to CMS. For instance, an alignment payment to be received from
Collaborators during a performance year may not exceed 50 percent
of a repayment amount due to CMS, while participant hospitals must
remain responsible for at least 50 percent of such repayment
amount.
Alternative Payment Program Overlap
The CCJR payment model is intended to build upon existing
alternative payment programs (e.g., Medicare Shared Savings Program
accountable care organizations and BPCI). To avoid overlap with
ongoing CMS initiatives, hospitals participating in BPCI Model 1 or
those participating in the risk-bearing phase of BPCI Models 2 and
4 for CCJR-related Episodes of Care will be excluded from
participation in CCJR. In instances where overlap of Medicare
beneficiaries does occur, CMS proposes that BPCI will take
precedence over CCJR.
CMS will be accepting comments regarding the CCJR Proposed Rule
until September 8, 2015. As such, stakeholders are best served by
engaging in a careful and meaningful review of the CCJR Proposed
Rule and pursuing opportunities to submit comments to CMS that
might affect the ultimate course of the final rule.
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