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News Release
October 7, 2020 

NAACOS Presents the Inaugural Champion of Value in Health Care Award
Four Members of Congress Recognized for Their Work to Advance ACOs 

WASHINGTON – The National Association of Accountable Care Organizations (NAACOS) recognized four members of Congress for their leadership in advancing value-based payment at its recent fall conference. These lawmakers have been champions of accountable care organizations (ACOs) and other value-based care models and the tools they need to be successful.  

This year’s inaugural awardees of the NAACOS Champion of Value in Health Care Award are:

  • Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-WA) – Lead cosponsor of the Value in Health Care Act (H.R. 7791) and the Accountable Care in Rural America Act (H.R. 5212)
  • Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL) – Lead cosponsor of the Value in Health Care Act (H.R. 7791)
  • Rep. Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS) – Lead cosponsor of the Accountable Care in Rural America Act (H.R. 5212) and efforts related to CMS outreach on various value-based, alternative payment programs
  • Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) – Lead cosponsor of the Value in Health Care Act (H.R. 7791)

The Value in Health Care Act, or Value Act for short, makes several changes to the Medicare Shared Savings Program and Advanced Alternative Payment Model (APM) bonuses. The Accountable Care in Rural America Act corrects what is known as the “rural glitch” by fixing ACO benchmarks by removing ACO-assigned patients from regional costs. 

These leaders have been advocates for their constituent ACOs with CMS and the CMS Innovation Center, helping inform the agencies’ value-based care work. More recently, these four led efforts to write House leaders urging action on Advanced APM bonuses and to CMS to better support ACOs in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

View their acceptance speeches

Reps. DelBene, LaHood, Welch, and Marshall were presented awards during NAACOS’s Fall 2020 Conference, which was held virtually between September 22 and October 2. The conference gathered 400 ACO leaders from across the country to discuss the latest trends and developments in accountable care models. The conference consisted of 26 break out panels, plenary talks and peer-to-peer sessions, all of which are available online for six months.

Archived content is still available

Notable sessions included a keynote address from CMS Innovation Center Director Brad Smith; a panel featuring Mike Chernew and Jay Crosson, the current chair and immediate past chair of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission; and a town hall with current CMS leaders. Conference attendees heard from former CMS Administrators Mark McClellan and Don Berwick and multiple other CMS officials about the latest in health policy, trends in accountable care models, and value-based payment. 

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Contact:
David Pittman
NAACOS Health Policy and Communications Advisor
202-640-2689 or [email protected]