CMS issues guidance to state Medicaid directors on advancing value-based care

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS; MD, USA) has issued guidance in a letter to state Medicaid directors intended to help progress adoption of value-based care strategies across state healthcare systems, particularly for Medicaid beneficiaries. Traditionally, payers provide fee-for-service reimbursement payments to primary healthcare providers in the USA: for every healthcare service that is provided to an individual patient, providers receive a fixed monetary sum back from a healthcare payer to cover care costs. However, the cost–effectiveness of this strategy has been called into question, with some arguing that such an approach may be associated with wasteful spending...