Next Gen ACO Coalition Rebrands as Value Based Care Coalition

WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 9, 2021)—Leading health care providers have announced the national collaborative formerly known as the Next Gen ACO Coalition has a new identity as the Value Based Care Coalition. The rebranding reflects the coalition’s evolved commitment to advancing two-sided risk, total cost of care payment agreements with traditional Medicare, Medicare Advantage and commercial payers.

Members of the Value Based Care Coalition include Next Generation ACOs, direct contracting entities, Medicare shared savings programs participants and other value-based care entities, representing more than 1 million lives in coordinated care. As provider-led stakeholders on the leading edge of Medicare payment reform, these members demonstrate how two-sided risk arrangements can advance equity, access and affordability to health care. When compared to fee-for-service payment arrangements, value-based care models better align incentives to coordinate care, improve quality, and help identify and address social needs. As a result, value-based care provides better care for patients at a lower cost.

With incentives created by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) to increase advanced alternative payment model adoption set to expire in 2022, the Value Based Care Coalition will be engaging with policymakers in Congress and the administration to extend this policy. While value-based care enjoys bi-partisan support in Washington, D.C., stakeholders have a substantial role to play in shaping the future of health care as the Biden administration adjusts existing models and rolls out new opportunities to participate in two-sided risk models. 

“With the Next Generation ACO model sunsetting, the Value Based Care Coalition will now serve as an advocacy home for provider organizations that are continuing to advance two-sided risk arrangements. This group of passionate value-based care advocates will continue their work to advance delivery system reform to benefit patients across the country,” said Mara McDermott, executive director of the Value Based Care Coalition. “We know total cost of care models are essential to creating a health care delivery system that is sustainable for the future and provides the type of care we all want for our own family members—care that is coordinated, focused on prevention and emphasizes whole person care.”

“The Value Based Care Coalition has been an incredible resource for: information on CMMI’s Next Gen and direct contracting models, the latest on legislative updates, advocacy with CMMI and Congress, and networking with like-minded colleagues,” said Elissa Langley, MHA, vice president and chief operating officer of Triad HealthCare Network, a member of the Value Based Care Coalition. “Mara and her team are extremely knowledgeable and very responsive to our issues.”

“U.S. health care has been focused on the fee-for-service model for a long time, so the transformation to value-based care is not going to happen overnight. Our work is more like turning a dimmer switch rather than flipping a light switch,” says Melanie Matthews, CEO of NW Momentum Health Partners and Physicians of Southwest Washington, Value Based Care Coalition members. “But the more we can work together to change the financial model and build infrastructure that allows us to reach patients differently, the better we become at this work.”

Founded in 2018, the Next Gen ACO Coalition has excelled in partnering with likeminded and similarly situated organizations to advance the objectives of its members. In 2020, the coalition—working with participating providers, relationships on Capitol Hill and within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and partnerships with national organizations, other lobbyists, and firms—successfully lobbied Congress to postpone the increase of MACRA thresholds that would have caused approximately one-third of ACOs to lose their Medicare Part B bonus eligibility.

In August 2021, the Value Based Care Coalition was invited to participate in a virtual town hall hosted by The White House to discuss its successes in vaccinating against COVID-19. At the time, the coalition announced that 29 value-based care organizations had signed a commitment to increase confidence and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. by focusing on efforts to expand vaccine outreach, education, and access in their communities.

For more information on the Value Based Care Coalition, please visit valuecoalition.org.