“CMS proposes to test new Medicare Part B prescription drug models to improve quality of care and deliver better value for Medicare beneficiaries.”
Link to the CMS factsheet here: https://www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Fact-sheets/2016-Fact-sheets-items/2016-03-08.html
CMS expects that the add-on payment of 2.5 percent plus a flat $16.80 fee will cover the cost of any drug paid under Medicare Part B. The flat fee is calculated such that it is budget neutral in aggregate. CMS intends for the test to result in savings through changes in prescribers’ behavior.
Did you catch the last sentence? “CMS intends for the test to result in savings through changes in prescribers’ [doctors’] behavior.” The government is going to change the behavior of doctors. The government bureaucrat that didn’t go to medical school is going to change how doctors practice medicine through low reimbursements and, described elsewhere, decision-tree tools for prescribing medications.
Maybe the government will just replace doctors with inexpensive, foreign, decision-tree readers. That will be a big cost savings.
