1. Our AMA supports Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) plans designed in accordance with the tenets of “clinical nuance,” recognizing that (a) medical services may differ in the amount of health produced, and (b) the clinical benefit derived from a specific service depends on the person receiving it, as well as when, where, and by whom the service is provided.
2. Our AMA supports initiatives that align provider-facing financial incentives created through payment reform and patient-facing financial incentives created through benefit design reform, to ensure that patient, provider, and payer incentives all promote the same quality care. Such initiatives may include reducing patient cost-sharing for the items and services that are tied to provider quality metrics.
3. Our AMA will develop coding guidance tools to help providers appropriately bill for zero-dollar preventive interventions and promote common understanding among health care providers, payers, patients, and health care information technology vendors regarding what will be covered at given cost-sharing levels.
4. Our AMA will develop physician educational tools that prepare physicians for conversations with their patients about the scope of preventive services provided without cost-sharing and instances where and when preventive services may result in financial obligations for the patient.
5. Our AMA will continue to support requiring private health plans to provide coverage for evidence-based preventive services without imposing cost-sharing (such as co-payments, deductibles, or coinsurance) on patients.
6. Our AMA will continue to support implementing innovative VBID programs in Medicare Advantage plans.
7. Our AMA supports legislative and regulatory flexibility to accommodate VBID that (a) preserves health plan coverage without patient cost-sharing for evidence-based preventive services; and (b) allows innovations that expand access to affordable care, including changes needed to allow High Deductible Health Plans paired with Health Savings Accounts to provide pre-deductible coverage for preventive and chronic care management services.
8. Our AMA encourages national medical specialty societies to identify services that they consider to be high-value and collaborate with payers to experiment with benefit plan designs that align patient financial incentives with utilization of high-value services.
Policy Timeline
Joint CMS CSAPH Rep. 01, I-18Reaffirmed: CMS Rep. 06, A-19Reaffirmed in lieu of: Res. 101, A-19Reaffirmed: CMS Rep. 2, I-20; Reaffirmation: A-22