Today, the Creating High-Quality Results and Outcomes Necessary to Improve Chronic (CHRONIC) Care Act of 2016 (S. 3504) was introduced Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch and Ranking Member Ron Wyden along with Senator Johnny Isakson and Senator Mark Warner, co-chairs of the Finance Committee Chronic Care Working Group. The CHRONIC Care Act hopes to improve health outcomes for those Medicare beneficiaries living with chronic conditions. Draft legislation had been released in late October 2016.
Today’s release is very similar to the draft released in October and contains key provisions related to telehealth. The Act looks to expand the ability of home dialysis beneficiaries to receive the required monthly clinical assessments using telehealth, starting in 2018, by increasing the number of originating sites. Patients presenting with stroke symptoms would also see expanded access to telehealth. In addition, the bill would extend the Independence at Home Model of Care (IAH) Demonstration, created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), until September 2019.
Like the draft legislation, the bill introduced today would make changes to Medicare Advantage (MA) that would help to better meet the needs of patients with chronic illnesses. The CHRONIC Care Act would allow an MA plan in any state to participate in the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Innovation (CMMI) Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) Model during the testing phase. MA plans would also be able to offer a wider array of supplemental benefits to their enrollees that are chronically ill as well as provide more telehealth benefits.
Other provisions include instructing the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to submit reports on a variety of topics including medication synchronization, care coordination of Accountable Care Organization (ACO), and the impact of obesity drugs on patient health and spending. Finally, the bill also includes provisions that are designed to remove barriers to care coordination and provide flexibility for beneficiaries to take part in ACOs.
Two policies that had been included in the draft, however, are now included in the 21st Century Cures Act. These are a provision that ensures individuals who qualify for the Medicare with end-stage renal disease can choose a Medicare Advantage plan starting in 2021 and a provision that updates the Medicare Advantage Risk Adjustment model to more accurately account for those with multiple chronic conditions.
The introduced bill can be found online here.