The Trump Administration announced new funding opportunities that will increase access and improve quality for Americans who live in rural areas. The Community Health Access and Rural Transformation (CHART) Model delivers on President Trump’s Executive Order from last week on Improving Rural Health and Telehealth Access as well as the President’s Medicare Executive Order and CMS’s Rethinking Rural Health initiative.
The Model aims to:
- Increase financial stability for rural providers through the use of new ways of reimbursing providers that provide up-front investments and predictable, capitated payments that pay for quality and patient outcomes;
- Remove regulatory burden by providing waivers that increase operational and regulatory flexibility for rural providers; and
- Enhance beneficiaries’ access to health care services by ensuring rural providers remain financially sustainable for years to come and can offer additional services such as those that address social determinants of health including food and housing.
Providers interested in the CHART Model have two options for participation:
Community Transformation Track
The Trump Administration is investing up to $75 million in seed money to allow up to 15 rural communities to participate in the Community Transformation Track. The upfront investment empowers communities to implement care delivery reform, provide predictable capitated payments, and offer operational and regulatory flexibilities to build a sustainable system of care. Through these flexibilities, health care providers across the community will be able to pursue care transformation such as expanding telehealth to allow the beneficiary’s place of residence to be an originating site and waiving certain Medicare hospital conditions of participation to allow a rural outpatient department and emergency room to be paid as if they were classified as a hospital. The model also allows participant hospitals to waive cost-sharing for certain Part B services, provide transportation support, and gift cards for chronic disease management.
In September, CMS will select up to 15 rural communities to participate in this track, with the winners being announced in early 2021 and the model starting in Summer 2021.
Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Transformation Track
This track offers upfront investment to assist rural healthcare providers in improving outcomes and quality for rural beneficiaries. This track builds on the success of the ACO Investment Model (AIM), which has saved $382 million over three years. Providers participating in the ACO Transformation Track will enter into two-sided risk arrangements as part of the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) and may use all waivers available in the MSSP program. CMS anticipates releasing a Request for Applications in the Spring 2021 and selecting up to 20 rural ACOs to participate in this track starting in January 2022.
For more information on the CHART Model, read the fact sheet from CMS.