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Updates for Members and Partners
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NAACOS WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU!
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NAACOS is seeking input from our members and partners on a few priority areas. Complete this five-minute survey by July 11 to tell us about your priorities and how we can better communicate with you.
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EXCELLENCE AWARDS NOMINATIONS NOW OPEN
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PRESIDENT TRUMP SIGNS TAX BILL WITH HEALTH CHANGES
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After months of debate, Congressional Republicans passed a budget bill aligned with President Trump’s tax and spending goals.
Health Care Spending Reductions:
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- The budget bill reduces health spending by about $1 trillion, mainly through Medicaid reforms like national work requirements and limits for state provider taxes. The Congressional Budget Office estimates over 10 million people could lose health insurance in the next 10 years because of the changes to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act.
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- The budget bill includes a one-year 2.5 percent increase in physician payments for 2026 to partially offset recent Medicare payment cuts. The payment update replaced a proposal to repeal Medicare’s differential conversion factor with a permanent, inflation-linked payment adjustment.
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- NAACOS is encouraged by the payment update for 2026 but will continue to call on Congress to further support accountable care by extending advanced alternative payment model (APM) incentives and lowering qualifying thresholds.
- Congress has until September 30 to extend government funding. Congress will need to reach a bipartisan agreement to extend government funding, so look for a high-profile political fight between the two parties as lawmakers continue to discuss funding cuts proposed and implemented by the Trump Administration.
- House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has also indicated that he would like House Republicans to pursue two more budget reconciliation bills prior to the 2026 mid-term elections that will allow Republicans to make changes to mandatory programs like Medicare or Medicaid with a simple majority in the House and Senate.
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HOUSE ENERGY AND COMMERCE ANNOUNCES NEW HEALTH SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIR
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Rep. Morgan Griffith (R‑VA) has been selected to succeed Rep. Buddy Carter (R‑GA) as Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee. Rep. Griffith was previously the Chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee that held hearings last Congress on the status of payment reforms made under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA). As chairman, he’s expected to continue maintaining oversight of federal health programs and prioritizing rural health care access.
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CMS BEGINS RELEASING 2026 PROPOSED MEDICARE RULES
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- Home Health– CMS is proposing policy changes that will decrease payments under the Home Health (HH) Prospective Payment System (PPS) by an aggregate of 6.4 percent for 2026.
- Renal– CMS is proposing to increase the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Prospective Payment System (PPS) for renal dialysis services base rate to $281.06, which CMS expects would increase total payments to all ESRD facilities, both freestanding and hospital-based, by approximately 1.9%.
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2023 QPP EXPERIENCE REPORT
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- Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)– The average final score for all MIPS eligible clinicians was 83.18 points with an average payment update of 0.59 percent. The maximum payment adjustment was 2.15 percent.
- ACO Reporting—The number of ACOs reporting electronic Clinical Quality Measures (eCQMs) / MIPS CQMS continues to grow. In Performance Year 2023, 72 out of 456 ACOs reported eCQMs/MIPS CQMs, up from 37 ACOs in 2022.
- Advanced APMs– Between 2022 and 2023, there was a 20% increase in Advanced APM participation and a 21 percent increase in the number of clinicians who achieved qualifying participant (QP) status.
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FIVE UPCOMING REGIONAL MEETINGS OPEN REGISTRATION
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Registration is now open for the upcoming regional meetings in 2025. These regional meetings are an opportunity to have value-based care presentations and discussions with regional health care leaders from provider groups, payers, and thought leaders from the care continuum in value-based care contracts. For 2025, we will hold to additional in-person meetings, a Midwest Regional Meeting on August 15 in Indianapolis and a Southwest Regional Meeting, location and date to be determined, in November. Registration for the Southwest meeting will open in early August. Our regional events are open to NAACOS members, non-member ACOs, and value-based care providers. In-person events are $250 per registrant, and each NAACOS ACO and value-based care provider member receives one complimentary registration per calendar year, with additional unlimited additional registrations to be purchased at the prevailing rate. Contact [email protected] to utilize your complimentary registration or with any questions.
In addition, there are opportunities to attend the four other regional events virtually in August and September as registration is also open for the first regional meeting in the Northeast/New England and the Northwest/Rockies regions which will have six hours of meeting content and free time for lunch and mid-year meetings for the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions which will each have four hours of content. There is no charge to attend the virtual regional events for NAACOS members, non-member ACOs, and value-based care providers. These events are not open to non-sponsoring business partners.
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- Mid-Atlantic Region Midyear Virtual Meeting: August 6, 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm ET Mid-Atlantic Registration
- Midwestern Region In-Person Meeting: August 15, 10:00 am to 5:30 pm ET Midwest Registration
- New England Region Virtual Meeting August 22, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm ET Northeast Registration
- Northwest/Rocky Mountain Region Virtual Meeting: September 16, 11:00 am to 6:00 pm ET Northwest Registration
- Southeastern Regional Midyear Virtual Meeting: September 26, 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm ET Southeast Registration
- Southwestern Region In-Person Meeting: November 2025, Registration Coming Soon!
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If you are interested in speaking on any of the agenda topics listed for your region, please reply to [email protected]. Watch for updates and additional registration links in future newsletters and on our Regional Meeting Webpage.
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SUMMER AFFINITY GROUPS START JULY 22
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Role-based member affinity group discussions are held Tuesdays beginning July 22.
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If you are new to NAACOS, Affinity Groups are peer-to-peer role-focused discussion groups for our members to exchange information, ideas, and brainstorm on current issues. These groups will meet four times a year with two virtual sessions and two in-person sessions that will occur at our Spring and Fall Conferences.
You can find more information at NAACOS Affinity Group and can register by following the above links or those found on the landing page linked above and can be found under the Learning tab on our website.
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LEARN AND NETWORK AT THE FALL CONFERENCE
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Join us at the Marriott Marquis Washington, D.C., on October 8-10 for the Fall 2025 Conference! The agenda will feature expert-led sessions providing real world value-based care strategies, a keynote by Pippa Shulman from Medically Home, and a Health Care Investor Roundtable, as well as networking opportunities for participants, speakers, and vendors. Register before August 15 for the in-person conference and receive a discount of $300 per person. Can’t attend in person? Register for our live webcast before August 15 and receive a discount of $100 per person.
Reserve your hotel room by August 15 (or until sold out) to receive the NAACOS’ discounted rate of $349.00 per night plus taxes and fees.
The sponsor and exhibit program is filling fast! Reserve your space today! Please note, all sponsorships and exhibit space are on a first come first served basis, and space is assigned in the order we receive applications.
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