CMS Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office (MMCO) Announcements

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office (MMCO) is pleased to share the following updates: Washington Managed Fee-for-Service: Final DY2 and Preliminary DY3 Medicare Savings Report Training Opportunity: Palliative Care for Older Adults Dually Eligible for Medicare and Medicaid Washington Managed Fee-for-Service (MFFS): Final DY2 and Preliminary DY3 Medicare Savings Report On November 16th, CMS released the Washington final Demonstration Year 2 and preliminary Demonstration Year 3 Medicare savings report, containing Medicare savings results for the Washington Health Home managed fee-for-service demonstration under the Financial Alignment Initiative. The report is on the Innovation Center website: https://innovation.cms.gov/Files/reports/fai-wa-finalyr2preyr3.pdf CMS and Washington State launched the Washington Health Home managed fee-for-service model demonstration in 2013. The demonstration leverages Medicaid health homes to integrate care for high-cost, high-risk, full-benefit Medicare-Medicaid beneficiaries. For more information about the Washington demonstration, please see: https://www.cms.gov/Medicare-Medicaid-Coordination/Medicare-and-Medicaid-Coordination/Medicare-Medicaid-Coordination-Office/FinancialAlignmentInitiative/Washington.html The results presented in the actuarial report released include: A final Demonstration Year 2 gross Medicare savings estimate of $30.2 million A preliminary Demonstration Year 3 gross Medicare savings estimate of $42.0 million Previously released final results for Demonstration Year 1 show total gross Medicare savings of $34.9 million, bringing the total over all three years to $107.1 million. The findings in this report are based on an actuarial approach to estimate Medicare savings based on a comparison of the trend of per member per month Medicare expenditures of the Washington demonstration group with the trend observed in a matched comparison group. This actuarial approach will differ in some ways from Medicare savings analysis found in the Washington Health Home demonstration evaluation reports, which are also be based on a matched comparison group but will use another (regression-based) methodology. The reports do not yet include estimated Medicaid savings or costs due to lags in Medicaid data availability. RTI will include Medicaid savings analysis in future reports once data are available. Training Opportunity: Palliative Care for Older Adults Dually Eligible for Medicare and Medicaid Date/Time: Wednesday, December 5, 2018 from 12:00-1:30pm (EDT) Register here: https://www.resourcesforintegratedcare.com/GeriatricCompetentCare/2018_GCC_Webinar/Palliative_Care Older adults who are in the advanced stage of an illness or nearing the end of life may experience physical or emotional distress, fragmented care delivery, and barriers to effective communication. Palliative care aims to address physical, spiritual, social, and emotional needs; coordinate care delivery; improve quality of life; optimize function; and assist with decision-making for individuals living with a serious illness and their families. This webinar will share strategies for skillful communication, recognition, and response to needs of beneficiaries and their families throughout the course of serious illness, and engagement of palliative care consultants as an added layer of support. Intended Audience: This webinar is intended for a wide range of stakeholders, providers, health care professionals (i.e., home care agency administrators and staff), social workers, front-line staff of Medicare Advantage plans, Medicare-Medicaid Plans, Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans, and PACE Organizations interested in learning more about palliative care. CME/CE credit information: CMS is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. CMS is also accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) to offer continuing education credit.