This month we’re highlighting one of our favorite federal funders, The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), which was created by section 1115A of the Social Security Act (as added by section 3021 of the Affordable Care Act). Congress established the Innovation Center to develop and test innovative health care payment and service delivery models that aim to provide better care at a lower cost for individuals who receive Medicare, Medicaid, or Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) benefits.

The Innovation Center isn’t just a name… it’s truly fulfilling its mission to produce better care, better health, and lower costs through 65 different innovation models. You can click here to view them all, but one of the model programs dearest to us is the State Innovation Models (SIM) Initiative, including Model Design, Model Pre-Test, and Model Test awards. Thanks to the SIM Initiative, over half of states are now receiving financial and technical support to achieve comprehensive, state-based health system transformation. For example, the state of Hawaii – which Words for Good assisted in receiving a $937,691 Model Design award – is developing a state innovation model informed by accountable care arrangements, patient-centered medical homes, and bundled payment methods.

Another notable CMMI initiative, the Medicare Care Choices Model (MCCM), is for the first time enabling Medicare beneficiaries to receive palliative care services from selected hospice providers while continuing to receive curative care. In collaborating with Community Health Network (Indianapolis, IN) for a successful MCCM application, we learned that this means patients with a life threatening diagnosis don’t have to choose between “giving up” (ceasing treatment) and receiving the support they and their families need to live the highest quality of life possible.

Current CMMI model programs accepting letters of intent and/or applications include the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Model, the “Million Hearts” Cardiovascular Disease Risk Reduction Model, and the Medicare Intravenous Immune Globulin (IVIG) Demonstration. For more information, please contact Words for Good via email at Stacie@wordsforgood.com, as we’d love to work with you on your next Innovation Center application!