Original Medicare consists of Parts A and B, a Part D drug plan, and usually a Medigap supplement plan that plugs holes in what Parts A and B pay for approved claims. This is known as fee-based care. It works well but the care recommended by your doctors and hospitals often is approved with no effort to determine its impact on your health. This leads to more care that may do little for your health while costing Medicare a lot of money.
Value-based care, by contrast, is linked to your health. Doctors and other providers can be financially rewarded for good health outcomes, even if this involves them providing less health care.
The push to encourage value-based care is being led by groups of doctors and affiliated health providers who have been creating what are called “accountable care organizations,” or ACOs.
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